The Charmed Seven Family Past series
by Lu-Larabee-Standish
Summary: A series of stories about the charmed seven mostly before their adoptive parents (the Potters) died. The stories have more than 1 chapter each but can read like one long story.
1. The Potters Teaser

**Part 1: The Potters by Lu**

The Charmed Seven Family Past Series  
May make more sense if you read "The Seventh Brother" first – that was the first story I wrote in this AU and is set in the modern day, while this series is set in the 1900's.  
Disclaimers: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved.  
Author's Note: This part came about when Jessie Jane's mom asked questions about Josiah's adoptive parents: the Potters; and I decided it would be best to make a separate part to give some background information about them. Main Characters: Gloria Potter, Terrence Potter Series Note: All of this story takes place before Josiah was rescued, but after the start of Josiah's story (in Part 2). The story should be read before Part 2: The First Son.  
Acknowledgments: The idea for Gloria Potter's job came from Patty Halliwell's job as mentioned in the "That Seventies Episode" episode of the Charmed TV series. Thanks to Jessie Jane and her mom for their input which has helped me improve this story.  
Closed AU until this whole series has been posted.  
Warnings: Violent scene mentioned, but nothing too graphical and nothing gory. Also includes the death of a minor OFC. Sensitive subject alluded to, involving contact between a man and a boy (absolutely no graphic details given.  
Spoilers: Two small spoilers for Part 2.

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**Teaser**

In a busy diner in Denver, Colorado, a waitress with short dark-brown hair bustled about, serving the lunch-time crowd. Two of the other waitresses had called in sick, so the pretty young waitress named Gloria was doing their jobs as well as her own.

Gloria was just twenty-five and had graduated from college not long ago with the qualifications needed for teaching. She was still looking for a teaching position - then she could leave this low-paying, unrewarding job.

Besides being a trained teacher, she was also a good witch. Her parents were witches, so they had passed the witch genes down to Gloria, their only child. Until Gloria was eighteen, she hadn't known about her destiny as a witch, as her parents had her powers bound until she was old enough to use them responsibly, and had kept magic a secret from her. Despite being a witch and having to protect people from evil magical beings, Gloria still needed to work to earn money, as being a witch wasn't a paying job.

As Gloria hurried about, trying to keep the customers happy, she was being very careful not to come into physical contact with any of them. She had the power of premonitions, but so far only future ones; and as she was fairly new to using her power, she could receive premonitions from anyone she touched - premonitions about happy or sad future events for the person touched. Although Gloria was happy to save innocents, she didn't want to get a vision about an innocent while she was at work and they were so busy, as she'd hate to leave the diner even more short-staffed. At that time, Gloria only seemed to be getting visions from touching people; when her power grew, she would be able to receive premonitions from touching objects as well.

Gloria was still waiting to receive a premonition from a person who would soon be in danger - then becoming their innocent - then she and Terrence would protect that person and vanquish any evil beings that were endangering their innocent.

Gloria was thinking about Terrence, her husband, as she was carrying a tray to one of the tables, and didn't see the man walking to the side of her. As she drew level with the man, she brushed against his long, brown, hooded robe with her arm.  
Gloria's eyes closed and she stood still, as she suddenly received a premonition. It was as if she was seeing out of someone else's eyes, as she watched the events unfold. A man with dark brown hair was standing near the top of the stairs, arguing with a slim younger woman with long silky blonde hair. Suddenly his arm moved out and he pushed her hard. The woman stumbled then screamed, as she began to fall down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, her head hit the wall a short distance from the bottom stair and she was knocked unconscious.

Then Gloria heard a young girl's voice behind her in the vision. "Jo-Jo? What was that?"

"Nothing, don't worry, go back inside and we'll finish our game," said a voice of a boy that came from Gloria's viewpoint. She was clearly seeing through the eyes of a young boy - maybe the man and woman's son.

"Okay, Jo-Jo." Footsteps signaled the girl moving back inside the room, clearly accepting the boy's answer.

Then the vision ended and Gloria re-opened her eyes. Luckily, the diner was so busy that no-one had noticed her strange behavior; except for the monk she'd brushed against.

The monk began to speak in Latin, as he hurried away from her and out of the diner. His voice sounded angry as he chanted words that Gloria couldn't understand; she'd never paid attention when her parents had tried to teach her Latin.

Gloria remembered her premonition and decided it must relate to the monk. She realized that he must have come from the nearby boarding school where monks taught the boys discipline among other things. Parents sent their sons there if they thought the boys were too disobedient. There had been rumors circulating about what went on at the school between some of the monks and the younger boys there; but so far whatever happened inside the school, remained inside its walls. But how could that relate to the two young children and their parents, who had obviously been inside a house? The man who'd pushed the woman in Gloria's premonition looked nothing like the monk.

Gloria decided that she had to go and see her half-Whitelighter and half-witch husband straight away; maybe he'd understand why she'd got the premonition about the family from a monk. Terrence would be working on a car at the garage, but she was allowed to visit him at work during the day. Terrence's boss, Thomas Simmonds, knew all about the Potters being witches so was happy to help them in any way possible so that they could save their innocents. Simmonds wasn't magical, but had always been open to magic being real, so he had been happy to keep the secret when he'd found out, after being saved from a demon's attack by Terrence.

Thomas had been working in the garage late one day and a demon had suddenly appeared, intent on killing the mechanic; Terrence, only nineteen then, had suddenly orbed in, having worked out the demon's next victim. Then the half-Whitelighter had thrown a small bottle at the demon and the demon had exploded. Thomas had been very grateful and had said he'd give his rescuer anything he wanted in return for saving him. Terrence had then revealed he needed a job and asked Thomas if he'd keep a look out for any vacancies in the area and call his name to summon him if he had any news. Then Simmonds had created the mechanic vacancy, and Terrence had accepted the job-offer straight away, keen to learn how to be a car mechanic so he'd finally be able to earn a fairly decent wage.

In the busy diner, Gloria carried the tray to the lady who'd ordered the contents, then went to collect her things from the kitchen. Her boss, Erin, was there checking things as there was going to be a kitchen inspection in a few days.

"Gloria?" asked the Irish woman. "You look worried, is there something wrong?"

"I have to leave early and see Terrence, I'm very sorry, Erin," apologized Gloria, as she untied her apron.

"Lunch-time rush is almost over anyway, I'll see you tomorrow." Erin smiled kindly at Gloria; the Irish woman cared a lot about her staff and didn't like to see anyone looking unhappy, especially her youngest waitress, whom she saw a lot of her past self in.

"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow." Gloria put down her apron and picked up her coat. She started fastening her coat, as she thought some more about the premonition she'd received - maybe the monk knew the boy and his family somehow.

**To be continued…**


	2. The Potters Chapter 1 of 1

**Chapter 1**

Terrence Potter sat down behind the garage's desk, drinking his coffee. Work was quiet at the garage after the two days of non-stop working on cars with problems.

Terrence was twenty-seven and had married Gloria when he was twenty-five. His father was a Whitelighter, and his mother was a witch, meaning that both Terrence and his brother were half-witch and half-Whitelighter. Terrence's witch magic power could freeze time for others except for good witches and very powerful evil magical beings. He could use his power to stop time for people and objects around him, such as to stop bullets moving in mid-air to stop a good person being shot. His Whitelighter powers were orbing and a limited healing power. Terrence could orb between places if he thought hard about where he wanted to go and he could use his limited healing power to heal minor wounds such as scratches.

Gloria Potter walked in through the customer entrance and approached the desk. "Terrence, I received a premonition which might actually mean something."

Terrence clasped Gloria's hands in his and looked into his wife's eyes - they conveyed that Gloria felt sad. "Tell me all about it, dear."

Gloria recounted her premonition to Terrence, while he listened patiently to her; Gloria remembered a lot of detail about the vision, as small details could prove very helpful to them. After Gloria finished, she looked at Terrence and waited for him to speak, hoping he had more idea than her of what it could all mean.

Terrence cleared his throat and addressed his wife. "My darling wife, that is a truly sad vision, but judging by what you have told me, it actually relates to a past incident. The woman clearly isn't the innocent we are supposed to save, as she is already beyond protecting. At a guess, I would say it is the children we need to save. I fear that the man has been cruel to his children as well - your description described someone who doesn't care whom he abuses. I fear that the monk gave you the premonition because he works at the boarding school and the boy is now there - perhaps he was sent there after his mother died. I also think that the monk has had close contact with the boy - otherwise you wouldn't have received the premonition relating to the boy from him."

"You got all that from what I told you?" asked Gloria in amazement.

"It all came to me suddenly - I don't quite know how," answered Terrence, startled by the explanation that had suddenly come to him after Gloria had recounted her premonition. "The only bit I know is true for certain is that the monk must have had physical contact with the young boy."

"No, don't say that - don't prove that those awful rumors are true, please," begged Gloria, in horror of what Terrence had just implied.

"I'm sorry, dear," said Terrence sadly, as he stood up, walked around the desk, and held Gloria in a tight and comforting embrace. "We must take immediate action - we must go to the school and see if we can help all the children if indeed the rumors are true. We can't just save the one child and leave the others there to suffer at the monks' hands."

Terrence let go of Gloria and held her hand tightly, before orbing them away from the garage - Thomas, who was stood nearby, was used to Terrence suddenly disappearing so didn't pay much attention to the couple's sudden disappearance.

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A few minutes later, Terrence and Gloria walked along the school's corridors, adorned in the robes of the monks who taught there. The two witches had gone home and found a spell to help them fit in at the school better. After saying the spell, they'd orbed to the school, and found themselves dressed like the other monks who taught there.

Gloria saw the same monk she'd seen at the diner and 'accidentally' brushed against him as she walked along. She received another premonition that only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to prove that the boy was at the school, and the rumors were true. In the premonition, she saw a daily calendar which said the same date as the present day, and a wall-clock which read seven-thirty PM. "Sorry," she said, after the premonition ended, in a deep voice in an attempt to sound like one of the male tutors.

The monk moved away, not at all suspicious of what had just happened.

Gloria whispered to Terrence, close to tears because of what she'd just seen - she loved children and couldn't bear to think that some adults did inappropriate things to them and got away with it. Luckily, the premonition had included the clock on the wall of the office Gloria had seen. The time displayed was several hours away so they had plenty of time to save the boy. Gloria somehow knew that the vision was of that day.

Terrence whispered back to Gloria, not wanting to take his wife with him to rescue the boy in her present state. "I'll orb you home, then we'll work out a plan and rescue the boy. I'll find the office you saw and rescue the child before he's touched again, I promise." Then Gloria took Terrence's hand again and they orbed to their house.

A child with dark-brown hair stood nearby, amazed by what he saw when the two people suddenly disappeared amidst many lights. He knew they'd be back - they wouldn't just go there then vanish and never come back. He had a feeling that they were good people and would change the future for the school - the way they had disappeared made him think they were angels sent from Heaven.

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When the Potters arrived in their house, they were met by an elderly man wearing long white robes with short white hair.

The man began to speak to them: "Terrence and Gloria, the Elders know about the two premonitions involving the boy and have sent me here because of them. I am the Angel of Destiny and have been sent to ask you if you will carry out a special role for them - a new destiny for you both if you take it." The man looked at first Terrence, then Gloria, wondering if they would agree to what the Elders wanted them to do.

"Tell us of this role which would change our destiny and we might agree to it," said Terrence, his voice showing that he was unafraid of whatever the future held for them.

"The Elders know that you both yearn to become parents one day. Only those who cared about children a lot would receive those premonitions that you did, Gloria. You may be the witches to save some future witches from evil."

"Future witches?" asked Gloria, not understanding where this was leading.

"Children who will, one day, be good, powerful witches," explained the Angel of Destiny. "The Underworld is always finding and murdering children with magical destinies because they fear that the children could one day become a threat to them. There is a prophesy that one day there will be a group of witches who will be the most powerful good witches among their generation - they will save many innocents from evil, and vanquish many evils. The witches will come from different parts of this country and somehow be united - but it is untold how they will come together, as the future, even in the prophesy, is unclear."

"You need some witches who are good with children to rescue the ones who are meant to become witches?" asked Terrence, having quickly worked out the Angel's reason for approaching them from what he had told them.

"Yes, they also want you to rescue children who aren't magical. There are witches elsewhere in this state who can deal with the adult innocents. That's if you two would like to help younger innocents rather than adult ones?"

"It sounds like we would need to mind our innocents until we could return them to their families; children can't be left on their own like adults can."

"That is correct," said the Angel with a nod. "If you agree to help, you would have to sacrifice raising a family of your own. But you would be helping lots of children who would die otherwise."

Terrence turned to Gloria who stood beside him. "What do you think, Gloria?" he asked his wife; not wanting to voice his decision if Gloria would be opposed to it.

"I think that boy I saw won't have a family to return to - that somehow we could take him in as a son," said Gloria with a smile. "We can't help him unless we agree to the Angel's proposal."

"If we did that, one of us might have to give up work to look after him," warned Terrence.

"I would be glad to leave my diner job for him - being a mother would be much more rewarding. I wouldn't mind keeping house and taking care of him full-time."

The angel smiled kindly. "Have you made your decision?"

Terrence looked questioningly at his wife and Gloria nodded. "We will accept the Elder's offer and sacrifice raising our own family. If the boy does not have a family to go to, we would like help from the Elders to adopt him."

"I can already tell you that eight-year-old Josiah Sanchez only has two living relatives. One is a sister called Hannah, who is in care at the St. Mary's Institution in Boulder; and the other one is his father, Raul Sanchez, who wants nothing more to do with the children - he is scared because he knows they are children of a witch. He murdered his wife because he was scared of her magic once he knew she was a witch. Rescue Josiah, and the Elders will see that you are allowed to keep him permanently."

Gloria and Terrence said good-bye to the angel before he disappeared in a flash of white light.

"I need to check that the boy's sister is being cared for at a good, caring, home - I don't think we could take her as well if she really has special needs, but the boy will need to be reassured that she is safe. Once I have checked on her and made sure she is in the best place, I will notify the police of our suspicions relating to the boarding school. They will investigate the matter straight away - if they don't, I'm sure the newspapers will be interested to know about the school tutors who have been getting away with assaulting the pupils there, while the police have remained completely unaware despite the circulating rumors. Straight from checking on Hannah, I'll orb to the school and phone them from there, then I'll orb into that monk's office - I've got enough time to find its location. Why don't you bake some of your delicious cookies? I'm sure Josiah will be hungry."

Gloria smiled weakly; afraid that somehow Terrence might be too late to rescue the boy in time. "Please hurry, Terrence."

Terrence smiled confidently at his wife as he orbed to St. Mary's Institution that was a few miles away. He felt quite sure that it was a decent place and Hannah wouldn't need to be moved. Once he'd been reassured that the little girl was safe, he would rescue the boy and get the police to start a full investigation of all the monks that worked there - then all the children who remained there would be saved from further mistreatment. With all the children depending on him, Terrence couldn't afford to fail.

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"Jo-Jo?" asked Hannah Sanchez, as she was gently shaken awake by one of the carers named Nancy, a woman in her early thirties with fairly long, light-brown hair in a ponytail. Hannah had been having an afternoon nap, as she'd been feeling a little unwell that day, making her more tired than usual.

"No, Hannah, it's Nancy. I'm afraid I haven't been able to contact your brother for you, but I'll keep trying."

"I want Jo-Jo," said Hannah, getting out of bed and crying as she spoke.

Nancy stood beside Hannah and cuddled the small girl to her, stroking the little girl's head comfortingly.

Terrence orbed into the room and used his freezing power to temporarily stop time for Hannah and the carer. The woman and child stopped moving, still stood together hugging.

Terrence walked around the room, checking for any signs that Hannah wasn't being cared for properly. The little girl's bedroom was clean and very tidy. The walls were covered with painted scenes of teddy bears and rainbows, and the cover on the bed was a cheerful yellow color. There was a large wooden toy-box decorated with different colored spots. The bedroom definitely looked like one of a little girl who was being treated very well. Terrence decided that Hannah seemed to be safe living there for the moment - he'd come back and check things again soon - the time in Gloria's premonition of Josiah being improperly treated by the monk was getting closer by the minute, and he had to save the boy. Gloria could come back with Terrence once Josiah was safe, and try to get a premonition from Hannah's carer to tell if she was treating Hannah well.

Terrence started to orb, and motioned his arms at the woman and girl before he orbed away.

Nancy stopped hugging Hannah and took a clean tissue out of the pocket in her uniform. The young woman sat down on the bed, and Hannah climbed onto her lap. The carer wiped the girl's tears away, and then began rocking the girl while she softly sang to her.

**To be continued in Part 2: The First Son.**


	3. The First Son Teaser

**Part 2: The First Son by Lu**

The Charmed Seven Family Past Series Disclaimers: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved.  
Author's Note: The boarding schools attended by Josiah and Hannah in this story are purely fictional and aren't intended to resemble any real schools either in the past or present.  
Main Characters: Josiah, Terrence Potter, Gloria Potter  
Series Note: Follows Part 1: The Potters, although the first few scenes precede the events in that story.  
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Jessie Jane for her input which has helped me improve this story.  
Closed AU until this whole series has been posted.  
Warnings: Child abuse; mention of a murder but no graphical descriptions; one small allusion to sexual abuse, but absolutely no graphical details given.  
Spoilers: None.

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**Teaser**

A six-year-old boy with blond hair sat on the floor in a large linen closet, which was in the hallway of his home, shivering not only from cold, but fear as well; he didn't like being alone in a place with no lights. His father was punishing the boy for accusing him of intentionally pushing his mother down the stairs and killing her. The boy, Josiah, had said he'd seen his father do it and knew he had meant to push his mother down the stairs. It wasn't an accident like Mr. Sanchez had convinced the police in their investigation. Josiah's father had first hurt the boy; kicking and punching him; then he'd shut the boy in the closet to think about the way he had accused his father of such cruelty, especially that he'd think his father would do such a thing to a member of his own family. Josiah had been ordered not to open the closet door, and the boy obeyed, fearful of what would happen if he disobeyed.

Outside the closet, a small blonde girl of five kept calling Josiah's name, not knowing why her brother wouldn't open the door to her. She hadn't seen her mother being pushed, or her mother's body. Josiah had made sure she wasn't a witness to her father's cruelty. Josiah always protected her - it didn't stop her father hurting her and hurling abuse though.

"Hannah, please be quiet or he'll hurt you again," begged Josiah, scared for his sister's safety even more when he couldn't protect her. He regretted getting himself sent to the closet so he couldn't look after Hannah - he should've waited until a better time to face his father with what he knew to be the truth.

"Jo-Jo, please let me in," said Hannah, now crying and not understanding why her brother wouldn't open the door.

"I'm sorry, Hannah; I can't open the door. Go to your room and keep quiet."

Loud footsteps sounded and Hannah screamed in terror. Their father was back and he had picked up Hannah roughly. The man with dark-brown hair hated especially that the children had blond hair from their mother, rather than dark brown hair from him. He hated all the things they had inherited from the woman.

"I've found you a new home, away from your brother who's a bad influence on you," said Mr. Sanchez, as he carried Hannah to her bedroom. "You'll never have to see that incarnation of the devil again."

"Please don't take her away," shouted Josiah, overcome with grief at the thought of losing his younger sister forever.

"I've found a place for you as well, Brat - a strict boarding school. I'll never have to see you again and they'll help you mend your ways."

As Josiah became angrier about his father's cruel treatment of Hannah and him, the closet door opened, slamming against the wall outside in the corridor.

"I told you not to open that door, Brat," shouted Josiah's father, having just missed being hit by the door as it opened without warning.

"I didn't though," whined Josiah, thinking his father had opened it and was pretending Josiah had done it, as an excuse to hurt the boy again.

"It's settled then - you're going to St. Benedict's Boarding School. You can go back to your room for now."

Josiah ran to his room and started stuffing clothes into his backpack. Anywhere had to be better than with his cruel father, but he hated the thought of never seeing Hannah again.

Mr. Sanchez walked into the room. "Don't bother packing," he said, "there'll be new clothes for you at the school."

**To be continued...**


	4. The First Son Chapter 1 of 2

**Chapter 1**

Several months later, Josiah found that there WAS a worse place than with his father. The school was very strict and punished him for many things he didn't think were wrong. He had been beaten and abused by the teachers, who were monks. One teacher subjected him to things he didn't know about - things that children of Josiah's age should never have done to them. Josiah daily prayed to God that he would be rescued by angels, never believing that his prayers would be answered even though the rescuer wasn't exactly an angel.

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One day, when Josiah was eight and still at the cruel boarding school, his prayers were finally answered.

That morning, Josiah was sent to one of the tutor's offices and stood in the corner of the office, shaking with fear. He knew what would happen next and wished an angel would come and take him away.

The big man in the long brown robes grinned at him. "There's no need to be frightened. You know you're looking forward to it really, Josiah."

Josiah closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Not long after he'd closed them he heard a noise, like little bells tinkling. He decided to risk seeing the man attack him, just to find out what the bells were, and opened his eyes nervously.

Another man, with short dark-brown hair, stood in the room looking at the now motionless Brother James. Surprisingly, Brother James didn't move at all, as though he were frozen like a statue.

Josiah cautiously took a step toward the stranger, who looked fairly young, but stepped back when the man smiled at him.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you. I've come to rescue you, Josiah. I know what that man did to you in the past; he won't be able to do it to anyone else ever again once the police have arrested him," explained the man, in a soft, gentle voice. "My name's Terrence Potter."

"How do you know MY name?" asked Josiah, still not sure if he could trust this man. He had stopped trusting people a long time ago. He had been sent away from home along with his younger sister, from their violent and abusive father, but he had been sent to a strict religious boarding school where no-one was kind to him.

"I was told your name by the person who helped me find you. You must come with me and I will look after you. I care a lot about children and long for my own. I'd like you to become my son. No harm will ever come to you again, I promise."

Josiah felt he could really trust this man - he was nicer than the tutors at the school. "I have a sister called Hannah at another school, can she come as well?"

"I have been to see her. They are taking good care of her there and they can help her more than I can. I promise that you will be able to visit her though," said Terrence. "We must leave this place before the police get here to arrest this man. Hold my hand and I will take us away from here."

Josiah walked to Mr. Potter and held his hand, noticing the man didn't hold it tightly and fiercely like the tutors had done. Josiah watched in awe as lots of tiny blue and white lights (called orbs) appeared all around them, and then they started to move upward. "Are we going to Heaven?"

"No, just to my house," said Terrence gently.

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Shortly after Terrence Potter had rescued Josiah from the strict boarding-school ran by monks, they orbed into the Potters' house. The house was a beautiful, large Victorian and boasted several rooms on three levels as well as the spacious basement under the house. The third level was the attic that had been converted into the Potter couple's bedroom - they preferred to have their bedroom at the top of the house, as they felt safer there. They had known about Josiah for a while but had only just been able to track him down, so they already had a bedroom prepared for the boy.

Josiah looked around him once the blue and white orbs had disappeared, clearing his view of the room he was now standing in. The furniture was modern-looking and he marveled at how expensive and elegant everything looked - it appeared the Potters weren't poor people.

A beautiful, fairly young woman with long, dark brown hair, brown eyes, pale white skin and wearing a dark blue dress walked into the room through an open door. She smiled a motherly smile at the boy and man. Josiah instantly liked and trusted her; she had an aura of goodness around her.

"Gloria, this is Josiah - the boy from your premonitions," introduced Terrence, placing a supportive hand on the boy's shoulder. "I rescued him just in time."

"Thank goodness. If we had failed, the guilt of failing to save him from further pain would have been unbearable to live with."

Terrence let go of Josiah's shoulder, then walked to Gloria and put his arms around her, pulling her into a comforting embrace. "Everything's going to be fine, dear. I knew I would save him on time. The men responsible for his and others' anguish will be put behind bars and the children will be placed into better care."

"I didn't thank you for rescuing me, Sir," said Josiah, as he stepped towards the couple.

"That you are alive and will no longer suffer is all the thanks we need, Son," replied Terrence, smiling at the boy. Then he let go of Gloria and motioned for the boy to join them. Josiah soon found himself being hugged tightly by his new family.

"We shouldn't stand here all day, there's plenty to do," said Gloria. "I've got some cookies baking for you, dear."

"Cookies?" Josiah had never had cookies before, but had heard that they tasted delicious.

"I don't suppose they gave you any treats at that awful place," said Gloria gently, inwardly angry that such strict and uncaring institutions existed.

"No, Ma'am. Just basic food needed to sustain us."

"I'm going to spoil you rotten from now on; you deserve it for putting up with that place for as long as you did."

"It's okay, Ma'am. There's no need to let me disrupt your life. I just need enough to live on: food, water to drink, and a roof over my head. I'm quite happy to sleep on the floor if you don't have a spare mattress."

"No, no. You will receive far better treatment than you did at that terrible place. You will no longer suffer the life of a pauper," said Gloria sternly.

"Let's get you settled in," said Terrence, as he took hold of the boy's hand. The man led Josiah through a hallway, up the stairs and into a small bedroom with light blue walls.

Once there, Josiah looked around the small room; he saw a small, medium-brown wooden desk, a bed with a mid-blue quilt; and several other items of wooden furniture. The furniture included a large wooden toy-box with cheerful pictures of many colors painted all over it. Josiah imagined it was full of toys for him to play with, but wasn't used to such luxury so thought he was probably being too hopeful.

"This is all yours now, Son. We wish you to be very comfortable now you're with us. If there's anything else you need, don't be afraid to ask," said Terrence, looking at the boy intently as he spoke. He noticed that the boy looked stunned by his new surroundings. Terrence felt inwardly angry at how much the boy had missed out on since he'd been sent to that awful boarding school.

"You are very kind, Mr. Potter. But I do not wish to be a burden to you," said Josiah, showing he was grateful, but politely telling the man he didn't mean to be any trouble.

"Please, Josiah, call me Terrence. You are not a burden at all. We are delighted to have you staying here. We have always longed for a child to share our home with us."

"Thank you for all of this, Terrence. I promise I will one day repay all of your kindness."

Terrence smiled at the kind-hearted boy who had suffered so much already.

**To be continued...**


	5. The First Son Chapter 2 of 2

**Chapter 2**

Later that day, Josiah had eaten most of the cookies that Gloria had baked - he had felt really hungry after the small portions of food he'd been fed at the school, and once he'd tried one cookie he couldn't help eating more - they were so delicious.

"It is a great compliment to me that you are enjoying those cookies so much. I hope that you'll have some room remaining for lunch in one hour," said Gloria, grinning at the boy as he finished the second-to-last cookie.

"I didn't mean to eat so many, I'm really sorry, Ma'am," said Josiah guiltily - she must think he was a pig. He left the last cookie on the baking tray - he'd really meant to leave two, so that the grown-ups could have one each.

"It's okay, Josiah. Eat as much as you like, dear. You'll get plenty of exercise while you live here, so you won't put on too much weight. And please, call me Gloria. There's no need to address me so formally."

"I'm not accustomed to calling adults by their Christian names."

"You seem to know a lot of words; do you read?" asked Terrence, not failing to notice that Josiah spoke well for an eight-year-old.

"I love reading. I had access to the school's library and read through all the books there, and then I read anything I could get hold of," said Josiah with a smile. No-one had paid so much attention to him before. Except for when his real father did - but that was mostly to inflict pain upon him.

"I don't suppose you know much of your family's history," assumed Terrence. The boy didn't look as though he knew of his heritage.

"Only that my mother was deliberately pushed down the stairs by my father for no apparent reason, and ever since then, he had abused my younger sister, Hannah and me. When we were both old enough, he placed us in boarding schools where we were out of his way. Hannah had to go to a special school because of her problems."

"I suspected you were unaware of the truth," said Terrence, taking a deep breath before he began his startling revelation. "There is a reason why your father became that way. He learned of your mother's special gifts and was scared of what she could do that he couldn't. He was worried that she would hurt him if he commanded her anymore - he always wanted to be the head of the family and felt everyone should obey him. He stopped loving her as soon as he knew what she was capable of, so wouldn't have cried at her loss. When she had gone, he became aware that he would have to be your sole parent and he didn't love you two like he had done anymore, because you were children of -" Terrence broke off from what he was about to say - how could he tell Josiah the truth about his mother? It was one thing to expose the boy to his orbing power, but quite another to reveal that the boy had magical powers of his own.

"The children of what?" asked Josiah impatiently, his full attention on Mr. Potter.

"Your mother was a witch with REAL magical powers. She came from a whole line of witches. You have one of her powers, Josiah."

"I do? If I had known, perhaps it would've helped me at the school." Josiah believed everything that Terrence said. The tone of the man's voice throughout had conveyed that Josiah should trust his words. The boy had always thought there was something different about him, but he'd never been sure what.

"I don't doubt that," said Terrence, "but there was no-one to help you discover your destiny. There aren't any other witches here besides myself, Gloria and you...yet."

"Yet?" asked Josiah. "Do you mean that there will be more witches here in the future?" Josiah had never disbelieved that magic was a very real force in the world and everything Terrence said confirmed that it was real, just like the boy had thought.

"Yes, son. My wife can see the future and has seen more witches in this town. She usually only has visions of good people we are meant to save, called 'innocents'. That's the main purpose of good witches - to save others from evil. The Elders, who are high-ranking angels in Heaven, have told us that we are to rescue the future witches as children, besides non-magical ones - Gloria will receive premonitions to help us locate them when the time comes to rescue each one."

"So I am the first of several magical children you are to save? And if they can't go back to their families, you can take them in as well?"

"Once I and Gloria are gone," began Terrence, "this place and its people will be vulnerable to evil unless more witches are put in our place. As we do not have any heirs, it is very fortunate that there are some magical children who can take our place, once they are saved. The Elders have recently told us, through an angelic messenger, that there will be a few magical children who could stay with us, as fate will cause them to loose their homes and families. We won't know anything about these other children until the right times come for us to know more."

Terrence paused to give Josiah a chance to take in the information, before telling him more. "I already have some notes about your family in our magical book simply known as The Book. I have now acquired some more knowledge which I must add before I forget. Come with me and you will be able to see the most important article in this whole house," invited Terrence, holding his hand out to the boy.

Josiah smiled and excitedly took his new father's hand, looking forward to seeing a real magic book.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Terrence showed Josiah around their special magic room and then showed him The Book, talking him through some of the sections contained in it. "You are welcome to come up here any time you like and browse through The Book - there is a great deal of knowledge to acquire from books, as you have already learned - but no other book contains the information included in here. Each generation of Potters have added to this book and as we have no children you will be the first of a new generation to add to this."

Josiah suddenly remembered his sister. "Can we visit Hannah soon? I haven't seen her since the day Father sent her away, because visiting her wasn't something my boarding school allowed."

"Our visit won't be until tomorrow I'm afraid," said Terrence, with regret in his voice. "We have to discover your power first. Unfortunately, Gloria hasn't received any premonitions in which you use your power, so we have no prior knowledge of your special gift." Terrence somehow knew that Josiah's power hadn't been magically bound before his mother had died, so it was there to use once the boy knew how.

Josiah stood patiently, ready to try to discover what magical power he had which he'd never known about.

"Focus on an object and concentrate. There are several magical powers which can affect objects and it may be one of those."

Josiah stared at a fairly big candle that stood unlit in its holder on an ancient dresser. He concentrated only on the object. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then the object began to float upward slowly.

"Keep focused on the object, Josiah," instructed Terrence gently.

The candle floated higher. Josiah was suddenly distracted when a skinny black cat walked up the attic stairs and rubbed itself against the boy's legs. The candle fell to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to happen," apologized the boy, upset that he had allowed himself to become distracted from his task.

"You're just lucky that wasn't a demon," said Terrence with a grin. "He would've picked himself up and have thrown a fireball at you by now."

"A fireball?"

"Demons have the power to create balls of fire which they can throw at their enemies. You don't want to be on the receiving end of one, believe me." Terrence rubbed his arm, remembering when a fireball in a previous attack had just skimmed by it, singeing a small amount of his skin.

"Is this your cat?" asked Josiah curiously. "I thought only bad witches had cats."

"This is indeed our cat and she's called Grace. She is our 'familiar' - a witch's pet which protects its owner from evil. Unfortunately, she doesn't always succeed in stopping the demons from attacking us - but I think she stops demons from attacking while we are asleep."

"Hello Grace, I'm pleased to meet you." Josiah tickled the cat under the chin and the cat meowed.

"She likes you, otherwise she'd scratch you for doing that to her," informed Terrence.

"I'm relieved," said Josiah, wishing he'd been more cautious about stroking the unfamiliar pet. He stroked the cat from the back of its neck down to its tail, then repeated the action.

"Don't worry; I have a healing power from my Whitelighter father. I can heal minor injuries such as scratches if you get hurt."

"That's a useful power to have. I will be more careful in future and try not to become distracted so easily."

Terrence smiled at the boy - he was young and was likely to make more mistakes in future, but with Terrence's help he wouldn't suffer from his errors. "There is a lot for you to learn. There will be more innocents to rescue soon, so I don't know how much time there is to teach you before then. I can tell you that your power is going to come in very handy. At the moment you can only move small objects, but it will grow and you will be able to throw demons away from yourself and others once you have become more experienced."

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Josiah settled in happily, living with the Potters, and they visited Hannah once a month. Terrence soon learned what Hannah's magic power was - to summon and control objects with her thoughts. Terrence bound the girl's magic, as it was clear that she wasn't sound enough of mind to ever be able to use any magic responsibly; it was because of her cruel father, whose constant abuse had badly affected Hannah's mind as a young girl.

Josiah waited for the day when he would be given a magical brother or sister - he hoped he wouldn't be too old when he got one, and he also hoped that the sibling would be younger so he could help take care of them.

**To be continued in Part 3: The Second Son.**


	6. The Second Son Teaser

**Part 3: The Second Son by Lu**

The Charmed Seven Family Past Series Disclaimers: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved.  
Author's Note: Abby, Pamela Larabee and Sandy are original characters created by me. The Source is a character from Charmed; although that is just their demonic role, so this particular Source was created by me.  
Main Characters: Gloria Potter, Josiah, Terrence Potter, Chris  
Series Note: This story comes after Part 2: The First Son. The end scene in this story takes place at the same time as a scene in Part 5: The Third Son.  
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Jessie Jane for her input which has helped me improve this story.  
Closed AU until this whole series has been posted.  
Warnings: None needed.  
Spoilers: Small spoilers for Parts 5 and 6.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

**Teaser**

Deep in the Underworld, the Source (the ruler of the Underworld) stood in a dark cave, discussing an important matter with a woman in long black robes with loose, very long black hair. They were talking about the woman's latest vision; as she had the power to see the future.

"We cannot allow the boy to live - he will grow up to become a powerful witch and destroy many demons if we do not destroy him," said the woman, whose name was Abby. "He will be the ruin of the underworld."

"What age is he now?" asked the Source.

"He is just two years old. I propose we destroy him almost immediately. His parents have not bound his powers yet. If they do that before we get to him, we will not be allowed to harm the boy."

"I will send my best demons to carry out the task at once," said the Source in agreement. His pupils turned black while he silently communicated with the chosen demons. His eyes soon returned to their normal red color after he finished communicating with the unseen demons.

"I have seen other male witches powerful enough to destroy you," warned Abby, "but they will not be born for years. It will take time to trace them once they are born, but while they are very young they won't be powerful enough to harm you."

"We will find and destroy them all. We'd better destroy their families as well; otherwise they could breed even more witches - perhaps even more powerful than their first-borns."

**To be continued...**


	7. The Second Son Chapter 1 of 2

**Chapter 1**

One morning at the Potter house, Gloria Potter sat with Josiah, her adopted son, in their home's small home-office, where she home-schooled the boy. The desk was just big enough for Josiah to do his school-work on. Gloria sat watching as Josiah worked out the math problems that his mother had just given him. She began to remember Josiah's first day at middle school after they'd enrolled him. Josiah had used his magic to move things and even tried to lift some boys that had surrounded him at recess. The Elders had sent special people that they called 'Magical Erasers' to wipe all memories of people at the school, so that no-one would remember any of the magic Josiah had performed; after that it was decided that it would be better for Gloria to teach Josiah at home. Gloria had previous training as a teacher, so was able to carry out the task fairly well and had managed to school the boy successfully past his twelfth birthday.

"Mom, can we have a break?" asked Josiah, feeling tired by all the math problems he'd been trying to work out and thinking it was about time for a break.

"Okay, it's nice outside, so why don't you go out and play in the back-yard," said Gloria with a smile. "I'll call you in about fifteen minutes." Gloria watched happily as Josiah ran out of the room toward the kitchen where the back door was. Her son was a lot safer at home in the daytime, and hadn't needed to change schools and leave friends behind when he'd reached high school age; it had just meant that Gloria had to increase the difficulty and amount of the boy's school-work. Josiah had several friends nearby, so he didn't miss out just because he didn't go to a normal school and mix with other children.

Josiah was very clever for his age, as he'd read a lot of books before he'd reached eight and learned a lot from them; he'd often sneaked books out of the library of the cruel boarding school where his abusive father had sent him at six-years-old. Josiah had more knowledge that a lot of children his age so should be able to get a good job after he graduated.

Gloria was distracted when Terrence walked into the room. "Gloria? We have a visitor who has important information for us." Terrence looked behind him and ushered the visitor into the office.

Gloria examined the visitor thoroughly with her eyes: the woman was fairly tall with shoulder-length curly blonde hair. She looked to be in her mid-twenties; only years younger than Gloria. "Mrs. Potter, my name is Pamela Larabee, and my Whitelighter brought me here because I am fearful for my brother's magical child, Christopher Adam. He has already shown that he is very special, as he was born on a very special date: the seventh day of the seventh month. In our family the number seven is a very powerful number and we believe his being born on that date is an omen that he will grow up to become very powerful. He will protect many innocents and vanquish many evil beings. We fear that demons will learn of his existence and try to harm him."

Gloria had been listening intently to everything the young woman had told her, and then she reached out and rested her hand on the woman's right shoulder. Gloria's eyes suddenly closed as she began to receive a premonition.

Gloria saw the grounds of a large ranch. Bodies littered the ground; most of them were dead. A small blond boy knelt by one of the women, continuously asking "Mama?" Mama didn't answer though. Gloria could hear the women's pulse until it stopped, and the woman was dead. The premonition ended and Gloria opened her eyes.

"I can sense that you felt great pain and loss. I have empathic powers and feel your emotions."

"You were right to fear for your nephew's life. You must stay here with me, while Terrence and Josiah go to the boy's home and protect all there from harm."

"I cannot stay; I need to move to a safer place," said Pamela; then she gave Terrence directions to the ranch in Indiana and disappeared into thin air; while Terrence went outside to get Josiah and orbed away with him.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

It was fate that made Terrence and Josiah arrive at the ranch after demons had already killed all the workers and little Chris's relatives. Chris had been turned invisible by his mother just in time, and the demons had left in disgust, unable to find the young witch they'd been sent there to kill as well as all the other people. When they'd all shimmered or blinked away from the scene of the carnage, the invisibility power used on Chris wore off and the boy became visible again.

The little boy with blond hair stood crying as he looked at all the people lying on the ground of the ranch. He wanted his mama to hug him, but when he'd gone over and tried to wake her up, she hadn't opened her eyes. The infant's name was Chris Larabee and he was two.

Many little blue and white lights appeared, then in the middle of them appeared a man and a tall boy with blond hair. The lights slowly disappeared and the two walked over to the crying child. They both somehow knew that the little blond boy was their innocent: Christopher Adam Larabee.

"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you," said the boy as he picked up little Chris and hugged him tightly. The child settled in his arms and soon fell asleep, feeling safe.

"Quickly Josiah, there's more coming," said Mr. Potter urgently. Josiah ran to him carrying Chris, then grabbed Terrence's hand as the blue and white orbs re-appeared around them. Slowly, the group vanished, leaving the lights to slowly disappear afterwards.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Gloria was making some sandwiches for the rescue party, confident that they'd rescue their little innocent, when she heard Josiah and Terrence arrive back in the living room. She heard crying as well - it sounded like a little boy's crying. He kept saying 'Mama' between his sobs.

Gloria walked into the living room, desperate to meet their rescued innocent. She stopped and looked at the cute little blond who was held by her twelve-year-old son, Josiah. The little boy was fidgeting in the older boy's strong grip and looked very unhappy.

"I want Mama," said Chris - he wanted to go home and be with his Mama, who'd probably be awake by now; he didn't want to stay here with these strangers.

Gloria walked closer to Josiah and gently took the little boy from him. She hugged the boy, stroking his hair comfortingly. "I'm sorry, but your mama had to go away. We'll look after you until we can find your aunt." Gloria remembered her premonition - everyone at the ranch was dead, as though the demons had been ordered not to leave any survivors.

"Terrence, come into the kitchen and help me finish the sandwiches for everyone," requested Gloria, anxious to know if Chris's family was indeed dead at the ranch.

Gloria settled Chris onto the sofa and turned on the TV for him. Gloria handed Josiah the remote. "Josiah, Dear. I'd like you to watch Chris for a while - see if there's something suitable on TV for him to watch."

Gloria walked behind Terrence to the kitchen, hoping that Chris would be okay without any adults for a short time.

Josiah sat beside the little boy, who looked at him curiously. "Let's see if there's any cartoons on, shall we?" said Josiah, as he picked up the remote from the coffee table.

"Toons," said the little boy, remembering how funny some of the cartoons he'd seen were.

Josiah smiled when he found a cartoon on one channel and sat back to enjoy it with Chris, who now seemed a lot calmer.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Josiah crept into the spare bedroom where Chris was sleeping and looked down at the sleeping boy. "I'm so sorry you lost your parents," he whispered to the boy. "Mom and Dad will take good care of you now and so will I. I'll be the best big brother to you, I promise."

Chris began to stir; he felt air in his ear. He opened his hazel eyes and looked at the boy crouched down by his bed.

"Hello, little guy."

"I want Mama," said Chris - he wondered where his mother was. Then he began to cry.

Josiah carefully picked up the child and rocked him gently - his mom had taught him how to handle younger children for when they rescued any more innocents who were children.

Gloria ran into the room, carrying a wad of paper tissues. "Did you wake him up?" she asked Josiah sternly, before she sat down on Chris's bed.

"It was an accident, Mom." Josiah handed the child to Gloria, who started to wipe the boy's eyes and try to hush him.

"When he's asleep I'd prefer it if you left him alone. He's suffering, and during his waking hours, things will be hard for him to deal with. He needs some juice, so can you go and half fill a baby-cup for him please?" Gloria had bought supplies for when they'd need to look after their child innocents including ones as young as Chris or even younger.

"Sure," said Josiah, glad to make up for his mistake. He hadn't meant to upset Chris or his mom. The boy left the room to carry out his task.

"I wonder what power you have," said Gloria, looking at the little boy on her lap, who had calmed down and was looking at her with interest. The little boy was fairly quiet, not wanting to stay with the Potters.

**To be continued...**


	8. The Second Son Chapter 2 of 2

**Chapter 2**

Three years later, Chris had settled into the Potter house and was starting to learn about the magical world into which he'd been born. The Potters had enrolled Chris into a local school, hoping that he wouldn't use his powers there, although the Potters still didn't know what his powers could do.

When Josiah had first attended elementary school he'd been eight years old; before that he'd been at boarding school that was far from what was considered normal. The tutors had all been very strict monks who had disciplined the boys far too severely and frequently. Josiah had been rescued by the Potters when he was eight, then sent to a far nicer Elementary school. Unfortunately, the boy had used his telekinesis and exposed himself to many of the pupils and teachers there. The Elders had erased all magical memories from the entire school after the event, and Josiah had been pulled from the school to instead be taught at home by Gloria, who had plenty of training as she had planned to be a teacher before she'd had to give that up for her destiny, which was to rescue and protect children innocents.

Josiah had now started at high school although he was the grand age of fifteen, after persuading his parents that he would be responsible and never use his magic there. He wanted to learn along with other children, so he'd decided he'd rather go there than be taught at home by Gloria. After learning which school some of his local friends attended, Terrence and Gloria had enrolled Josiah in the same school.

"Chris, dear, we still don't know of your power - you must have one," said Gloria, as they sat eating breakfast exactly three years after Chris had been rescued.

"I don't got one," said Chris with a mouthful of cereal.

His adoptive mother gave him a stern look; "Don't speak with a mouthful. You HAVE got a power, you just haven't found out what it is yet."

Chris finished his mouthful then apologized; "Sorry, Mom."

Josiah walked into the room whistling. "Mom, can Sandy come over tonight?" he asked, with hope in his voice.

"Sandy? Who's Sandy?" asked Terrence, from where he sat reading the newspaper.

Gloria gave him a despairing look. "Sandy is one of Josiah's friends from school and she also lives a few doors down," she explained to her husband - the man needed to take his head out of the clouds more often.

"Have I met her?" Terrence was very bad at remembering names and often had to ask his wife or adopted son to remind him of a person's name.

"I like Sandy, she's funny," said Chris, grinning at Josiah.

"Oh, I think I remember her now. She's the pretty girl with long legs who had Chris in fits."

"Terrence," snapped Gloria, glaring at the man.

"She has got long legs though, Mom," said Josiah innocently.

"Okay, you can have her over tonight, but only until nine, okay?" Gloria hated to think what might go on between the fifteen-year-old and Sandy if they were both in the house after Gloria and Terrence had gone to bed.

"Fine. I'm going over there to tell her right now, then we'll walk to school. See you later." Josiah gave his mom a quick peck on the cheek, then waved good-bye to Chris and Terrence.

Gloria watched Josiah leaving through the back door. The boy had already got himself ready for school; he didn't need to be told to get ready as he was very obedient and conscientious.

"Sandy's the only girl I like," said Chris, as he tried to open the small clear plastic bag containing the toy from the cereal.

"Let me open that for you, Son," said Terrence helpfully. "Please place it down on the table and stand back a little."

Chris placed the plastic bag on the table then backed away, ready for his father to open the bag for him.

Terrence pointed with one finger at the bag, and his second witch-power, particle-manipulation, sped up enough molecules in the plastic to split the bag open. Terrence knew that Chris was entertained by the trick, so he reasoned that it wasn't for personal gain; it was done for Chris more than him anyway. If witches used their magic for personal gain, there'd be bad side-effects, as it was one of the witch rules that they mustn't use magic for personal gain.

"Thanks, Daddy." Chris picked up the split bag and took out a small, blue toy car. He studied the car then exclaimed, "Cool!"

"We have to go to the magic room now, we still need to know your power," said Gloria, looking across at her husband who was now studying the paper with great interest.

"Is Daddy coming too?"

"I hope so, but he has to finish reading his paper first," answered Gloria sarcastically. She hated it when her husband seemed more interested in his paper than his family.

"Someone thinks they saw a man throwing fireballs in the cemetery," said Terrence, looking up from his paper and not failing to notice Gloria's tone of voice.

"That's nothing new. It's a pity we don't have anyone on the police force. They could help cover up any magical happenings if they were in the know," said Gloria thoughtfully.

"I think Josiah wants to be a policeman," informed Terrence, suddenly remembering what their oldest adopted son had been trying to tell him a few nights ago.

"Good. We'll have to discuss it with him sometime. We have to discover Chris's power soon or he might use it by accident and end up getting hurt."

Chris stood up from his chair and excitedly ran up the stairs, leaving the two adults staring after him. Chris was eager to discover his power that hadn't revealed itself yet.

"I'm glad he's so enthusiastic," commented Terrence happily.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Chris looked around the magic room - it was full of magic things and various items of furniture, including a table for mixing magic potions on. The room had dark curtains on the windows that were used to conceal happenings inside from the outside world. This was the room that contained the magical book of the Potters, called "The Book".

"What magic can I do?" Chris asked himself, he was frustrated that he'd never used his power by accident, so had no idea what it was. He often had dreams about when the demons had attacked his real parents at their ranch, and how the demons hadn't touched him as though they were scared of the boy. Chris still didn't know that his mother had turned him invisible so the demons couldn't see him; the demons couldn't even sense the boy when he had been invisible.

Gloria and Terrence walked up the stairs and joined their youngest son in the magic room.

"Son, we need to find out what the trigger for your power is. At first you will only have one power, but others will become available when you have more experience," explained Terrence.

"Trigger, like on a gun?" asked Chris in confusion.

"Terrence meant that we need to find out what you have to do to make your power work. For my premonitions to happen, I have to touch something or someone related to the innocent I'll see in my vision - or even the innocent themselves," explained Gloria, wishing that Terrence would explain things a bit better so he didn't confuse the boy.

Chris suddenly closed his eyes and started trembling.

"What is it?" asked Terrence with a shaky voice. His son looked in pain.

"Two boys being hurt by demons," was the scared reply from the blond boy.

"Oh dear," said Gloria with sadness in her voice. She loved children and hated for any to get hurt.

"In a forest. I see deaded people laying on the ground," said the boy; then the vision ended and the boy re-opened his eyes and began crying loudly.

Gloria rushed over to the boy and picked him up. She rubbed his back comfortingly.

"Their mama was killed just like my mama," said Chris, with his sentence broken up by his sobs.

"We'll save them, dear," said Gloria, as she took a hanky out of a pocket and wiped Chris's eyes. It was clear now that Chris had the power of premonitions, just like she had. Gloria was surprised that Chris had got the premonition without touching anything or anyone that was linked to the boys or their family. Gloria usually only got premonitions from touching people or objects relating to the main person in the vision. She'd received one of Josiah by brushing against a monk who'd been in the diner where she had been working then. The monk had had physical contact with Josiah at the boarding school where he'd been sent by his cruel father. The vision Gloria had received had showed Josiah's mother being pushed down the stairs by his father - a vision of Josiah's past. Most premonitions that witches had were of innocents they were meant to save, but witches could receive visions of anything, sometimes if something was going to happen in relation to what they had touched.

"Perhaps someone gave Chris that premonition on purpose," suggested Terrence, also realizing what Chris's power was, but surprised about the sudden vision that didn't seem to have been triggered by anything. Chris hadn't touched anything before he'd received the premonition.

"If we haven't even met anyone relating to the premonition, how are we supposed to find them?" asked Gloria, worried that they might not be able to find the innocents in time and save them.

"They had strange clothes on, Mom," recalled Chris, trying to help. "Not like mine or 'Siah's."

"That could mean Chris got the premonition too soon - those clothes might not even be designed yet," deduced Terrence, lifting up Chris and giving him a hug to congratulate him for discovering his power. "You did very good work, Son, and we're proud of you."

"Thanks, Daddy. Do I got to go to school now?"

"How about I help you get there quicker?" suggested Terrence.

"You gonna orb me, Daddy?" squealed Chris excitedly.

"Yes, go and get ready then we'll go." Terrence watched with pride as his little boy ran out of the room to prepare for school.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Two days later, Gloria went to the stores with Chris. He should've been at school, but he wasn't feeling very well and couldn't stay home alone while Terrence was working at the garage.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Gloria asked Chris, as she held his hand while they walked to the stores.

"Not too bad, Mom," answered the boy as they approached a bus-stop. A blonde woman with a baby in a stroller was waiting there for a bus.

Chris accidentally brushed against the stroller and his eyes automatically closed, ready to see the premonition he knew was coming. Then he saw the woman, a little older and a little boy with medium brown hair, surrounded by demons of different colors. Then the vision was over as quickly as it had begun.

"I'm so sorry, Ma'am," said Gloria, as she quickly pulled Chris away, not wanting to risk exposing Chris's magic to the woman.

"That's quite all right - children aren't always able to control their own directions," answered the woman, shooting a stern look at the boy.

Gloria pulled Chris away from the bus-stop. When they were quite far from the blonde woman, she gently pulled Chris to one side and looked at him with concern. "What did you see?"

"I think that baby is going to be in danger when he's older. I saw a boy and the woman s'rounded by demons," answered the boy, looking back at the blonde woman rocking the stroller, while the baby inside howled loudly.

"Another early premonition unless she has an older son," commented Gloria regretfully. If Chris really had seen the baby in danger when he was older, they wouldn't be allowed to protect mother or child until they looked similar to how they did in Chris's premonition.

"Let me check," said Chris and ran back to the bus-stop where the mother was still waiting with the stroller. She now held a crying baby, dressed in a pale green, long-sleeved and long-legged onesie. Chris reached up and touched the child.

Gloria ran back to the bus-stop; "Chris, it is wrong to run off like that."

"It IS him!"

"What?" asked the blonde woman, looking startled and angry.

"I had another one, Mommy. This time it was just him and he was little like me and a demon nearly taked him but then his mama came with an old man and they grabbed him and they all went away," blurted out Chris, forgetting that they weren't meant to reveal premonitions to people unless they were sure the people believed in magic.

"No - they can't find us," shouted the woman in fear. Then she quickly placed the baby back in the stroller and swiftly pushed it as she hurried to safety. Walking was probably quicker than waiting for the already late bus, she reckoned. The baby began to cry, sensing that something was wrong.

"Uh-oh," muttered Chris, as he watched their innocents leaving.

"Don't worry, we'll track them down in time," reassured Gloria, as she picked up the boy and hugged him tight.

"Mommy? Do you think she was a witch?" asked Chris. He thought there was something magical-looking about the blonde woman.

"Perhaps. Come on - before the stores are closed," urged Gloria holding her hand out to the blond boy. Chris took her hand and they continued to walk to the stores.

**To be continued in Part 4: The Third (Unofficial) Son.**


	9. The Third Unofficial Son Teaser

**Part 4: The Third (Unofficial) Son by Lu**

The Charmed Seven Family Past Series Disclaimers: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved.  
Author's Note: I couldn't leave a story about Nathan out of the series, so I wrote this one about him.  
Main Characters: Nathan, Josiah, Gloria, Terrence Series Note: Follows Part 3: The Second Son. This story takes place about three years after the last story.  
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Jessie Jane for her input which has helped me improve this story.  
Closed AU until this whole series has been posted.  
Warnings: None needed.  
Spoilers: None.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7  
**

**Teaser**

When Chris was eight, Terrence became ill because a Darklighter got into the house and shot a poison arrow into him. Darklighters existed to kill Whitelighters and half-Whitelighters with the poison arrows they fired from crossbows. People who weren't Whitelighters would just become ill from the poison, rather than die.

Terrence stayed in bed after the attack, while Gloria called a Whitelighter, who would be able to heal her husband. Chris and Josiah hadn't been told the truth - all they had been told was that their father was unwell. They hadn't been allowed to see their father, so had been spared from seeing the large arrow.

The doorbell rang and Josiah, who was eighteen then, walked to the door to see who was there. He cautiously opened it and saw a dark-skinned man standing there. The man carried a large black bag at his side.

"Are you the doctor?" asked the teenager suspiciously - the man didn't look much like a doctor he thought.

"Yes, my name's Nathan Jackson. I understand that Mr. Potter is unwell," answered the man, offering his hand to the teen. He didn't call himself a doctor as that would be lying - it was bad enough that he had to keep the truth from the boys that he was really a Whitelighter. He was sure the boys already knew about Whitelighters, but he had been instructed by the Elders not to tell them why he was really there.

Josiah shook the man's hand, then answered Nathan's question; "Yes, my father is unwell in bed. Maybe it's food poisoning."

"It might be poisoning," answered Nathan, knowing the young man was half-right, as Josiah led him into the house.

Josiah called up the stairs to tell Gloria that the doctor had arrived. "Mom, Doctor Jackson's here to see Father."

Gloria heard the boy's voice through the slightly ajar bedroom door and walked to the landing. "Come straight up please, Doctor."

"Please help him - he's too young to die yet," requested Josiah softly, as the man started up the stairs.

"I'll try my best," said Nathan - even though he knew he would be able to heal Terrence, he wasn't allowed to say anything to anyone (except Gloria and Terrence) that would indicate he was a Whitelighter who could heal all manner of injuries. He was only at the house to heal Terrence, and then he had to leave.

Josiah watched Nathan walk up the stairs then went back into the sitting room to finish playing chess with Chris. Eight-year-old Chris was very good at chess, after being taught by their father at age six.

"Isn't he a bit young for a doctor?" asked Chris, suspiciously. Chris had been watching discretely from the sitting room's doorway and had noticed that the man only looked to be in his mid-twenties; Chris thought that all doctors were old.

"I'm sure he's fully qualified, Brother," answered Josiah, who liked the doctor, but was slightly wary of him; he did seem nice though.

"He could be a demon in disguise."

"You're suspicious of everyone - even the mailman. I'm sure he's a real doctor," said Josiah as he sat down in his chair to continue their game.

Chris sat down opposite Josiah and started to plan his next move carefully - he had to beat Josiah again. He'd already won the first game, and if Josiah beat him this time, they'd have to play a third game to find an overall winner; Chris didn't want to play another game.

**To be continued...**


	10. The Third Unofficial Son Chapter 1 of 1

**Chapter 1**

"Thank goodness you could orb here so quickly - his condition's getting worse," said Gloria, as Nathan closed the bedroom door behind him.

"How come you guys don't have your own Whitelighter?" asked Nathan, surprised that the Potter witches didn't have an angelic guide of their own. "I thought all witches had one to help them."

"They said we didn't need one as Terrence is half-Whitelighter. The Elders send someone to us if we need any information from them. Truth is I think they still disapprove of Whitelighters and witches having children together, and not giving us a Whitelighter is their way of punishing Terrence's family."

"You know, Terrence's immunity isn't as good as it used to be," informed Nathan, as he moved his hands over the man, sensing how bad Terrence was internally. He really thought the Potters should have their own Whitelighter, but the Elders were listening from above and would hear if Nathan voiced his opinions - then they would get angry at the man for disagreeing with their decisions, and who knew what would happen then.

"You CAN heal him though, can't you?" asked Gloria nervously. She didn't think she'd be able to cope if Terrence died - there were still more innocent children both magical and non-magical that they were meant to save and she needed Terrence to help her with that. She also loved the man dearly and would miss him terribly if he left her. She wasn't sure she could go on living if she was without him.

"Yes, but his heart won't be as strong as it was before," answered Nathan. "I'll heal him, then I'll have to talk to the Elders. I think you'll need a Whitelighter because of Terrence's health."

Gloria couldn't help smiling at this. A Whitelighter would be very useful in helping the family to fight future demons, plus he could help with the children when he wasn't with other charges. Whitelighters had several charges to help and would go to them if they called their Whitelighter, or if he or she sensed the charges needed them.

Nathan put his hands over Terrence's heart and a soft yellow glow appeared underneath them. The healing energy would go into Terrence's heart, then through his blood and take out all of the arrow's poison. Unfortunately, Terrence's heart had some damage to it that could never be repaired - it was a good thing the boys were old enough to help the Potters fight demons.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

After Nathan had spoken to the Elders, he orbed into the sitting room where he had sensed the two boys were. It was now the right time to tell them that he wasn't a normal doctor, although he had been an almost normal doctor, although an unofficial one, a long time ago.

Josiah heard the familiar tinkling of orbs and looked toward the sound. Doctor Nathan Jackson stood there, surprising Josiah who hadn't even suspected that Nathan was magical.

"He's a Whitelighter?" asked Chris in astonishment. Their dad had told them all about proper Whitelighters as Terrence's father had been one.

"That's right, I'm a real Whitelighter," confirmed Nathan cheerfully. "I was sent to heal your dad before, and now I'm going to be the Potter's official Whitelighter."

"Really?" asked Chris in excitement as he jumped up from his chair.

"Really," said Nathan and smiled kindly at the blond boy. "Any time you need me for a magical purpose, you just need to call my name."

"You mean 'Doctor Jackson'?"

"No, that isn't really my name. Even before I became an angel I was never a proper doctor, although I did the work of one in the town I lived in. Just call me Nathan, okay?"

"Okay, Nathan," said Josiah, as he looked sternly at Chris who was excitedly bouncing about. At any moment, Josiah worried that the floor would break from the extra pressure on it. That boy wouldn't stay still when he got too excited, but the Potters hoped that Chris would grow out of it soon.

"What?" asked Chris innocently, not failing to notice the stern look from the older boy.

"Stop jumping, Chris - you're not a frog," said Josiah, not sharing his brother's excitement at getting a Whitelighter.

"He can play with me now, so you won't have to anymore," said Chris. He knew that the eighteen-year-old was really too old to play with him.

"I'm not here to play games with you, but I can sometimes, when I'm not too busy," answered Nathan, thinking back to a little blond boy he'd known in his lifetime.

Gloria came down the stairs with Terrence then - she'd been waiting for Nathan to return with the result of the Elder's decision and had got tired of waiting. Terrence was now fully recovered, as Whitelighters' healing powers healed injuries very fast.

"Mom, Nathan has some news to share with us," informed Josiah, walking to his parents, glad that his dad was okay.

"Good or bad, dear?" asked the boy's mother. Josiah's voice hadn't indicated what type of news the Whitelighter had for them. Gloria was unaware that Nathan had orbed into the room, revealing to the boys that he was a Whitelighter.

"Good, I guess."

"Mrs. Potter, I'm now your family's Whitelighter for good," said Nathan, giving her a large grin - he knew it was the news she had wanted and he was glad to deliver it to her.

"Nathan?" asked Gloria.

"Yes?"

"The first thing you need to know if you're going to be our Whitelighter, is that you can call us all by our first names. Mine is Gloria."

"Okay, Gloria - that's fine by me," said Nathan; he couldn't help noticing the coincidence as he'd once known a woman by the same name, and 'Gloria' wasn't exactly a popular name anymore.

"I'm looking forward to being one of your charges," said Terrence, with a welcoming voice. He had always wanted a Whitelighter to guide him, but the Elders had always refused his requests.

"You can stay for dinner can't you, Nathan?" asked Gloria, noticing that it was almost dinnertime and she'd better start cooking dinner soon.

"Yes, as long as my other charges don't need me," accepted Nathan with a smile.

"Chris, show Nathan to the bathroom so he can wash his hands, then wash your own after he's done. Josiah, you may as well set the table for dinner now – we'll need an extra place-setting for Nathan. Dinner will be ready in about an hour." As the Chris showed Nathan to the downstairs bathroom and Josiah went to set the dining table, Gloria and Terrence shared the moment of quietness, happy that everything was turning out okay. Being given their own Whitelighter was an important milestone for their family and they would remember this day for the rest of their lives.

**To be continued in Part 5: The Fourth Son.**


	11. The Fourth Son Teaser

**Part 5: The Fourth Son by Lu**

The Charmed Seven Family Past Series Disclaimers: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved.  
Author's Note: An early scene in this was inspired by the gypsy episode of Charmed "The Eyes Have It". Main Characters: Maude Standish, Devlin (named after a warlock in the "Muse to my Ears" episode of "Charmed", but in this AU he's a demon.), Ezra Series Note: Follows Part 4: The Third (Unofficial) Son, although some of this story happens before Chris first met Maude and baby Ezra in Part 3: The Second Son.  
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Jessie Jane for her input which has helped me improve this story.  
Closed AU until this whole series has been posted Warnings: Mention of a boy inflicting a very minor wound on himself to draw a small amount of blood to help find his mother.  
Spoilers: Mentions an event from Part 3: The Second Son

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7  
**

**Teaser**

One dark night in a dimly lit street, a young woman with long blonde hair hurried home from her night job at a fast-food restaurant. She hated the job, but needed the money for her future - she had received a free fortune-telling from an old gypsy woman after helping the woman and her family escape some demons...

Maude raised her hand at each demon and blew them up with her magic power - she was relieved that she had been the one in her family to receive that power; with it she could either freeze the motion of objects and living things, or blow them up.

She had come to the gypsy camp with her younger brother, Mark, to rescue their innocent: a gypsy girl whom Mark had seen in his last premonition. The surroundings Mark had seen in the premonition had led them to the gypsy encampment, just outside of their town. The two siblings had hurried there, as Mark's premonitions were usually not very long before the events happened, and they'd arrived just after the demons had.

Maude immediately began to blow up each one with her power, while Mark quickly rescued all the gypsies and helped them move to safety.

After all the demons had been destroyed, Maude hurried to the agreed place where Mark said he was taking the gypsies. Once there, old Madame Zelda had thanked Maude several times, grateful that her family-line hadn't been destroyed (like Mark's previous vision had shown). The future was very changeable, so witches could change the future once they'd received the relevant premonitions.

The two Standish witches accompanied the gypsies back to their camp and were invited to stay for a celebration that involved eating, drinking, dancing and singing. After a while, Madame Zelda decided to give Maude and Mark a free fortune-telling each.

Maude was first, so she joined the old woman in the gypsy caravan and sat down while the woman looked into her crystal ball. Madame Zelda frowned, puzzled by what she saw. "I see darkness in your future. I also see a forbidden love...and a forbidden child."

Maude was startled and angry; "I will never love - love is evil and a waste of time."

"You will though - you will meet a man of darkness...but it seems that he may now be in the light. I cannot see any further than a child...it is shrouded in mist."

**To be continued...**


	12. The Fourth Son Chapter 1 of 3

**Chapter 1**

Maude decided to take a short-cut home that evening after work, months after the fortune-telling; she would walk through the dark alley, unafraid of being attacked because she could defend herself with her magic powers.

"I smell witch," said a man whom Maude couldn't see clearly in the dark. "You must come with me - I need a witch for my plan."

"Come another step closer and I'll blow you up," threatened Maude fiercely.

"A feisty witch at that; you'll be perfect."

Before Maude could do anything, the man grabbed her and they disappeared from the alley.

Shortly after, they arrived in the bedroom of an apartment, much to Maude's amazement; she'd been expecting a cave as that was where she thought a demon would take her. "Why are we here?" she demanded to know; she wasn't going to be polite to any demons or warlocks.

"It is all part of my plan, my dear," answered the demon mysteriously. "Your power won't work here, so don't try to blow me up. Just make yourself at home."

"I will not; I demand you take me back immediately."

"I can't do that. Listen to what I have to tell you and maybe you'll change your mind about me." The demon in his human form sat on the bed; he had a handsome face and short dark-brown hair.

Maude looked toward the room's door, planning to escape that way.

"There's an invisible barrier on this side of that door - you can't escape."

"I don't want to listen to you; let me go," shouted Maude angrily, walking toward the door, but stopped when the demon spoke again.

"My name is Devlin and I know your name is Maude Standish," began Devlin. "I have heard much talk of your family's past deeds against the Underworld. I chose you to help me because I saw a picture of you and couldn't help being attracted to the pretty young woman with blonde hair - the only daughter of the last remaining Standish family."

"How could you see a picture of me?" asked Maude, mystified as to where Devlin would get a picture of her.

"A friend retrieved it for me. Maude, I am not as evil as you may think; I was turned good by a witch's spell and have been living here since. I have longed to meet a good witch who I could start a family with. Think of what a child of a witch and a demon could do for the side of good - I believe that he would be good as we both are and would have an advantage over other witches fighting evil because of his demonic powers."

"My parents told me never to trust demons or warlocks or other evil beings. How can I trust you?"

"I give you my word that I would never harm you. Just give me a chance and help me to make the world a better place. Help me begin a race of good half-demons."

"I'm very touched by your speech, Mr. Devlin," said Maude, as she clapped mockingly, "but I will not be part of your twisted scheme. You'll just have to find another witch who is foolish enough to believe your nonsense." Maude walked toward the door, but when she reached to open it she was thrown backward, landing hard on the bed.

"I will not do anything to you against your will, Maude. But I won't allow you to leave without giving me a chance." Devlin closed his eyes and began chanting words which Maude couldn't understand.

Maude suddenly felt calmer and more relaxed, perhaps even less suspicious of Devlin. "There's something in what you have told me, which makes me think maybe you aren't as bad as I first thought," said the blonde woman, as she sat down on the bed a short distance from the demon.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Two years later, Maude and her young baby boy, Ezra, waited at the bus stop in Denver; they had been staying there for a while as Maude had found a rich husband there to support them both. Now they were going to get the bus out of town with the money Maude had received in the divorce settlement.

Maude, being a witch, should have had her own Whitelighter, but the Elders hadn't assigned her one because of the life-style she led. Conning people out of their money was something of which the Elders strongly disapproved.

Maude kept looking at her expensive gold wrist-watch; the bus was already ten minutes late and she wanted to get away before the demon bounty-hunters found them. The Source wanted Maude and Ezra Standish dead, because bearing and raising a half-demon/half-witch was against the rules of the Underworld, and he wouldn't allow the child to grow up and cause the ruin of his domain. Devlin had been captured when Ezra was only a few months old and Maude hadn't seen him since.

When the little blond boy touched Ezra's stroller that day, Maude thought nothing of it, as young children were very clumsy she thought; but when the boy touched the baby not long after, she became wary. It was the last straw when he announced the contents of his premonition; that he saw Maude and the child when he was older, surrounded by demons.

Maude had to get herself and Ezra to safety - they didn't want more witches finding out that she'd mothered a witch-demon. It had all been a terrible mistake, but Devlin had used a mind-control power on her, making her agree to a relationship with him. His power had even made her think she loved him and she'd been happy to share a house with him and their baby son. When Devlin had gone, the mind-control had stopped working and Maude had finally realized that she didn't love the demon - she wasn't even sure she loved her half-demon son, whom she wouldn't have even had if Devlin hadn't magically forced her. She felt she had to keep Ezra safe, whether she wanted him or not, as she didn't want to be imprisoned for the abandonment of a minor. If she ever got the chance to leave the boy and escape being jailed, then she would.

After being told of the blond boy's premonition, Maude had hurried with Ezra back to the hotel they were staying in. Then she started packing; they were going to stay with her parents in Atlanta, as her parents were very fond of Ezra and would be happy for him and his mother to stay with them. They could baby-sit Ezra while Maude found some people to con out of their money - that was the only job she liked doing. Both of her parents were witches and would protect Ezra well so that no demon ever harmed him.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Living in the southern state of Georgia affected young Ezra as he learned to talk, and he grew up with a gorgeous southern accent. It easily distracted females of all ages and wherever he went with his mother, the women and children would gather around to hear him talk. It annoyed Maude who constantly had to shoo them away - she didn't want the attention drawn to her son, in case it alerted demons to their presence.

Maude had to keep traveling to where she could 'work' to earn money, so she had to leave the boy with relatives and friends who taught him various skills. He was very intelligent and learnt things that other young children wouldn't be capable of achieving at such an early age.

At six, Ezra and his mother met a man who said he knew where Devlin, Ezra's father was; so Maude and Ezra arranged to meet with the man who said he would take them to their missing family-member. Maude wanted to kill the demon who had ruined her life by giving her a half-demon for a son.  
When they arrived to meet the man, they were surrounded by demons - it appeared that they had been lured into a trap - there were too many demons for Maude to fight.

Maude wondered if the man who'd led them there really did know Devlin's location. She evaded the demons, and went after the man when he suddenly appeared.

In her hurry she forgot about her young son whom she didn't pay much attention to anymore. Ezra and Maude still loved each other like mothers and sons did deep down, even though they didn't often show it. Even so, she still disliked having a half-demon for a son and all the troubles that came with him.

Ezra noticed when Maude left in pursuit of the man, leaving Ezra outnumbered. He didn't resent her for leaving though and thought she would return to him one day.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

"Are you sure this is the place you saw in your premonition, Chris?" asked Josiah, who stood beside his adopted brother. They had just driven in Josiah's car to a warehouse downtown to rescue a boy from a group of demons. Chris had a premonition showing the boy being killed in the warehouse and Josiah had said they needed to rescue the boy. Anyone who was shown being hurt or attacked in Chris's premonitions was someone they needed to rescue, an innocent. Their innocents - people with or without any magical powers - weren't strong enough to defend themselves.

"This is exactly the place - we'd better hurry before it's too late," said eleven-year-old Chris.

Josiah raised an arm at the door and his telekinesis opened it. He led Chris inside.

Inside the warehouse they saw a gang of men (they were really demons who were magically disguised as men) advancing toward a young brown-haired boy, sitting huddled on the floor. Josiah moved his arms up and one of the men went flying away from the group as if thrown. The men looked toward Josiah and Chris, then started walking toward them, intent on revenge on the boy and young man who had sent their leader flying.

More of the men were thrown away from the group by magic, while the young boy with medium-brown hair watched. Then the younger blond boy walked toward him.

After several demons had been thrown away by Josiah's telekinesis power, the remaining few disappeared into thin air in fear. Josiah walked over to Chris and the younger boy.

"What's your name?" asked Chris softly, like his father had taught him to with innocent children.

"Stay away from me," said the boy, as a fireball appeared in his hand.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Chris as he stepped back. He hadn't been ready for that surprise. He'd just looked like a normal boy in Chris's premonition. Chris walked closer to Josiah and whispered into his ear; "He's a demon – we don't rescue demons!" said Chris – he would never forget that demons had been responsible for his family's deaths at the Larabee Ranch when Chris was only two.

Josiah turned to Chris and gave him a stern look, and then spoke to him in a low voice. "Demon or not, you've had too many premonitions where HE was in danger – he's clearly the child we're meant to save."

Then Josiah looked at Ezra. "It's okay; we're not here to hurt you. We came to save you from those demons," said Josiah in a soothing voice, looking the boy in the eyes as he spoke.

"You did?" asked the boy. "Take me away from here then." The fireball in his hand disappeared, then Josiah stepped closer and held his hand out to the boy. Ezra decided he could at least get taken away from danger by these two strange boys; when he was able, he'd leave them and go to find his mother.

Chris remained quiet – he didn't trust the little boy who had just threatened them with a fireball, but he wouldn't argue with his older brother, who was usually a pretty good judge of character. Also, Chris didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of Josiah's telekinetic pushes like those demons had been – he'd rather remain friends with him.

Ezra accepted Josiah's hand and the group walked back to the car to leave.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Shortly after Ezra was rescued, deep in the Underworld, several demons and a woman with long, straight black hair were gathered around a large crystal ball (about the size of a football), watching the images it displayed.

"I see a boy with blond hair and a man also blond, but barely a man. They have arrived at a large, old house with the child," told the woman as she looked into the crystal ball. She had the power to see present events happening elsewhere and make those images appear in her crystal ball.

**To be continued...**


	13. The Fourth Son Chapter 2 of 3

**Warning: Mention of a boy inflicting a very minor wound on himself to draw a small amount of blood to help find his mother.**

**Chapter 2**

At the large, old house owned by Gloria and Terrence Potter, Chris and Josiah led the young boy they had just rescued to the dining room to meet their waiting, adoptive parents. Their mother and father were waiting to meet their latest innocent. Chris had recently received another premonition of the boy and had shared it with the rest of his family. Then he and Josiah had gone to rescue the boy, after easily working out from Chris's description where he would be.

Ever since Chris had first got premonitions of Ezra, the Potters had been tracking the boy and his mother. Then one morning Chris had suddenly received a premonition of Ezra looking like the age he would be then. Then Chris and Josiah had gone to rescue the boy. Nathan was busy with other charges, so was unable to orb the boys to the warehouse; so Josiah had driven them both in his car instead.

Unfortunately, no-one had known that Ezra was half-demon, so they'd been surprised when the boy had threatened to throw a fireball at Chris. Neither the Underworld nor the Elders would approve of beings that were half-demon and half-witch.

"Did you see his mother there?" asked Terrence, as he stood in the kitchen eyeing the young boy. "We can't just take him away from her - we only need to make sure demons don't kill him."

"There was no sign of her, Father," answered Josiah. "Perhaps Chris can get a premonition if he touches him."

"We did find out that he is half-demon though," revealed Chris, remembering when the boy had threatened him with a fireball. They hadn't suspected that the boy had any powers; they had just known that he would be surrounded by demons who probably wanted to kill him for no reason. Chris made no move toward the boy to get a premonition – he didn't trust anyone who had even one drop of demon blood.

"Please trust me when I say that I am not evil," said Ezra, as if he'd just read Chris's mind. "My mother was a good witch and I was bought up by her and my grand-parents to always be on the side of good."

Chris felt braver and stepped toward the boy, ready to try for a premonition.

"Stay away from me," shouted the younger boy, nervously backing away from Chris. He clearly didn't understand what Chris wanted to do and thought that the blond might hurt him.

Josiah spoke, knowing that the boy needed reassurance that he was safe with them. "We don't wish to harm you. We are good witches who only want to protect you from harm. Chris can receive visions by touch and wishes to try and find out where your mother is so we can take you back to her."

"Witches?"

"Josiah, we don't even know his name, it's proper etiquette to begin with introductions. Let us introduce ourselves to him before we go any further," advised Terrence. "Son, my name is Terrence Potter."

"I am Ezra P. Standish," said the six-year-old boy, pronouncing the name perfectly. These people certainly weren't like those demons and he felt he could trust them. "My mother is a good witch named Maude Standish."

"My name's Josiah Sanchez and I have been Terrence's adopted son since they rescued me from a strict boarding school." They might as well share some background information with the boy since Ezra had just told them a bit about his mother. Also knowing more about them might put the young boy more at ease around them.

"My name's Chris Larabee," introduced the blond boy. "My parents were killed by demons when I was two and I was rescued by Terrence and Josiah, then bought here. I've been living here ever since."

"That explains your distrust of demons. I am so sorry for your loss, and yours also, Josiah. I am aligned to the side of good because my mother was good, and my father was also, and I inherited their loyalty to the side of good. My demonic father was turned good by a witch's spell before he met my mother. Those demons were after me and my mother because it is against the rules of the Underworld for a demon to take a witch as a mate, and especially to father children with her. "

The Potters, Chris and Josiah were shocked by how well the six-year-old spoke – they'd never heard of a child that young who used so many words. But then was not the time to ask him about it.

"Ezra, I believe everything you just said, and I'm sorry for distrusting you without knowing the facts," said Chris apologetically, beginning to trust Ezra.

"My mother has been searching for my absent father, who disappeared when I was very young. We were led into that ambush you rescued me from, by a demon claiming to know the location of my father. My mother had already left when you arrived, to try to discover if that demon really knows my father's whereabouts."

Terrence's wife stepped toward Ezra then. "My name's Gloria - I'm Terrence's wife and both boys' adoptive mother. We'll find your mother, Ezra; but for now we'll look after you. Would you like some cookies? I just baked a batch while I was waiting for the boys to return with you."

"Gloria's also a wonderful cook," said Terrence, as he walked to Gloria and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I wish my mother could cook. She has always made sure I eat properly though; she has never fed me food which is high in salt or anything else unhealthy for me," informed Ezra, who would really like something tasty but unhealthy while his mother wasn't there.

Terrence suddenly stood up and grabbed his car keys off the hook where he always hanged them. "Boys, we're going to McDonalds. Ezra needs to get a taste of something unhealthy for once in his life." Terrence didn't understand why he suddenly had the impulse to indulge Ezra with unhealthy food, but he put it down to wanting to make the boy happy while he was staying there.

"Dad, I think I'll pass on that. I'll try scrying for Maude instead," said Josiah, who had grown out of fast food.

Scrying was the process of holding a crystal hanging from a cord above a map to locate a witch, demon or other supernatural. The crystal would be pulled toward wherever the desired magical being currently was - but would be more effective if they had something relating to the being they was trying to find, such as some blood or skin which they'd wipe onto the crystal first.

"I don't think you'll be able to find my mother with magic. She is very good at hiding from magical radars when she feels the need," said Ezra - he had learnt a lot about magic from magical friends and relatives and even knew the meaning of scrying.

Josiah wondered if Ezra had been told that scrying was more effective if skin or blood from the person they were seeking was first wiped against the crystal. They unfortunately didn't have anything of Maude's to use. "Ezra? Did your mother tell you that scrying for someone is more effective if you touch their blood or skin to the crystal first?"

In answer, Ezra took a small penknife from his pocket and gently pricked his finger with it. "Where's the crystal?" he asked.

Everyone except Josiah was shocked by Ezra's sudden action. Gloria was worried in case the penknife wasn't sterile - then the boy could get an infection from it. Josiah wasn't shocked though - after enduring almost two years at a strict boarding school ran by abusive monks, it took a lot to shock him.

Josiah happened to always carry a scrying crystal in his pocket; he kept it as a good-luck charm; he took it out of his pocket and handed it to Ezra. Josiah was slightly upset that the boy had pricked his finger without even being asked - it was disturbing to see a child inflict a small wound upon themselves.

Ezra wiped a small amount of blood from his finger on the crystal, then handed it back to Josiah.

Then Gloria rushed forward and wrapped a clean handkerchief from her pocket around Ezra's finger. Ezra looked startled by the concern shown by the woman. "It's okay, I won't hurt you," she reassured him in a gentle voice.

"You're crazy," said Chris to the boy. He was glad their Whitelighter, Nathan, wasn't there - he hated it when children got hurt and would especially detest if one deliberately hurt himself.

Ezra smiled at Chris. "If it will find my mother, it will have been worth doing."

"You need to wash your finger before we go out for a burger, dear," instructed Gloria, then she led Ezra to the bathroom.

Josiah went to the dresser, opened a drawer and took out a folded map of the area. Terrence and Chris helped him lay it out flat on the dining table.

Gloria came out of the bathroom with Ezra, having washed his finger in very hot water to kill any germs. Ezra didn't like the very hot water, but had learned to endure pain because of the number of times he'd been abused by relatives and friends of Maude's. He felt very grateful to Gloria though - he could get used to having her care for him like a mother. He felt sure that his own mother would never have done anything if he'd pricked his finger in front of her.

Terrence looked at Josiah, who was now gently swinging the crystal over the map. "Josiah, you try scrying for Ezra's mother. The rest of us will go out for a burger." Terrence looked at Chris and Ezra. "Take some of the cookies, boys - you can eat them on the way," he told them, remembering Gloria's freshly baked cookies, still untouched on the plate.

Ezra picked up a cookie and looked at it. He had been told of cookies by another boy once, but had never had the chance to try one.

Chris greedily grabbed three cookies - he loved his mother's cooking - especially her cookies.

**To be continued...**


	14. The Fourth Son Chapter 3 of 3

**Chapter 3**

Several days later, Ezra had tasted many foods that he'd never enjoyed before and had also enjoyed several children's activities. Luckily, it was the schools' summer-break or he and the boys would have to learn instead of having fun. Now he was going to finally see their magical book that they unimaginatively called 'The Book'.

"Are you ready, Son?" asked Terrence, as he stood in the bedroom's doorway. Ezra shared a room with Chris while he was staying there. The Potters were sure that they'd find Maude soon, then she could take Ezra home. They would keep a close eye out to make sure no more demons attacked them. The demons would soon be too scared to go after them if enough of their number were killed by the Potters.

"There is no need to call me 'Son'. I am not and will never be that to you, Mr. Potter." Ezra hated that title and wished they would call him by his first name instead.

"He always calls boys that, it's just his way," explained Gloria, hoping that Terrence wasn't hurt by Ezra's words. She was now standing beside Terrence. "Now, put that comb down - you're going to pull all your hair out with all that combing."

"Yes, Ma'am. I'm very eager to see 'The Book'."

Ezra placed the comb down on the chest of drawers and followed the Potters to the special room where their magical book was kept.

The Potters stood aside so Ezra could enter the room first. The boy stepped forward slowly while Gloria and Terrence remained watching from a distance.

Ezra gasped at the large book that lay upon the table, closed. He marveled at the strange magical symbol on the front cover. He noticed that four parts of it stood out from the rest; they shone while the others were almost the same dark color as the book's cover.

"There is a lot of past knowledge stored in there, Son. More information magically appears after some events happen. After Chris was rescued, a brief history of his family appeared. The same happened for Josiah before that, but at that time he was the only boy we'd rescued so we didn't know the same would happen for Chris. Have a look and see if your family is in there."

Ezra opened the book and started turning the pages. Several turns later, he stopped and stared. Sketched pictures of his mother and father were slowly appearing on the facing pages. He watched as the sketches finished being drawn by unseen hands and writing was slowly added. "Wow!" he exclaimed.

"What is it, Ezra?" asked Gloria, walking to the boy.

"It was drawing my mother and father and now it has started writing about my family," answered the boy excitedly.

"Magic will never cease to amaze. Terrence and I are going downstairs. Why don't you have a look through The Book and see what you can learn? The information contained in it could prove useful to you in the future."

"Thank you for allowing me access to this - it's incredible. I will see what I can learn."

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Once downstairs Gloria and Terrence had to intervene to end an argument between Chris and Josiah; Chris could be very disagreeable at times - perhaps caused by what he had witnessed when demons destroyed his home and family. The arguments were often about silly things and Chris always took them too seriously.

Gloria sent Chris to his room to calm down, and Josiah went to scry for Maude Standish again.

"Are you sure it's safe to leave a half-demon alone with The Book?" asked Terrence, still not sure if they could trust the half-demonic boy.

"There is a lot of good in him; I don't think he'd dream of stealing it to give to demons. He has spent his young life among humans, not demons, so he hasn't embraced his demon side much - except for using fireballs," answered Gloria, who had every faith in the boy to stay on the side of good.

"What if he starts casting spells though?" asked Terrence. "You know that spells cast for the wrong reasons result in consequences."

"He's a smart boy - you can tell just from the way he talks. No six-year-olds talk like him unless they're super-smart. He won't try any spells."

"I hope you're right, Gloria."

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Chris looked up from his magazine upon hearing a bark. "That's strange, we don't have a dog," he said aloud to himself. The small white dog standing in the room barked again, as if in answer.

"Where did you come from?" asked Chris, looking at the unfamiliar dog that sat on the carpet near his bed.

The dog barked again - several continuous barks this time.

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

Chris picked up the dog and carried it to the room where The Book was. He didn't know Ezra had been left there to look at their magical volume, so didn't notice that the boy wasn't there anymore.

Chris walked to the book and started turning the pages. "Aha! 'To understand animals'; I knew it was here somewhere."

The dog barked several times again, but Chris had no idea what it was saying.

Chris went to the corner cupboard and took out the magical ingredients he needed for the spell. "I just need a small clump of fur from you now."

The dog started to back away, not wanting its fur to be plucked.

Chris noticed some fur on the ground and took that - the dog was getting fur everywhere! Chris took the fur back to the table and started making the potion; once he'd finished mixing it, he threw the potion on the floor then stepped in the puddle it had made. A loud bang was heard, and Chris found himself enveloped by a cloud of smoke. Chris closed his eyes to avoid getting smoke in them.

"That was an unwise move, Chris. Now you are the same as me!" said Ezra, annoyed at Chris.

"Huh?" asked Chris, finally opening his eyes. Then he got a big shock - thanks to the old mirror that he was in front of - he was now changed into a small white dog, identical to the one he wanted to understand.

"I tried to warn you - I was aware that the spell would do that. I knew what I was doing when I cast a spell to change into an animal. I know exactly how to change back whenever I want. Why did you have to get curious about what I was saying? All dogs bark and no-one cares what they're saying."

"You sounded like you had something important to say. I didn't know it was you under a spell!"

"I was merely delighting in my first successful spell," explained Ezra. He was annoyed because he had the feeling that because of Chris changing into a dog as well, they would be found out by the adults.

"WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?" asked an angry voice.

Chris ran under the table in fear, closely followed by Ezra.

"It's no good hiding, I know exactly what you've done, and you're both in BIG trouble. Ezra, don't try to tell me you did it by accident; you knew exactly what you was doing and you must know it's wrong to use spells just for fun," scolded Terrence, as he looked under the table at the two white dogs who he was very angry with.

"Did you know that, Ezra?" asked Chris - Ezra was only six, and Chris remembered he had misused spells at that age.

"Of course I knew that," answered Ezra. "I've never cast a spell before and wanted to see if they would work as well for me as they did for full-witches. Obviously being only half a witch doesn't make spells any less effective for me."

"How did you learn to talk so well for a six-year-old?"

"I was taught by books, television and relatives. My mother felt it important that I be able to pass myself off as an older child to disguise myself from demons."

"Boys, come out from under the table, so I can change you back," requested Terrence, having found a spell to transform them back in the book. Ezra had memorized the animal spell and the reversal one, then craftily flicked the pages of the book over, so no one would be able to tell which spell he had used, so Chris hadn't seen Ezra's spell when he'd looked in the book.

Both dogs obeyed, not wanting to upset Terrence further.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

One month later, Terrence called a family meeting after dinner. Not long after, the two boys and three adults stood in the magic room.

"Ezra, we are still unable to find your mother," informed Terrence. "We have decided that you should remain here with us, so that we can take good care of you whether your mother ever returns or not. It may be against the Elder's wishes for us to look after a half-demon, but they don't know you half as well as we do - we know that there is so much good in you, that we cannot send you away simply because of what you are. We'll start turning the spare room into a bedroom for you, but you'll continue to share a room with Chris until then. Welcome to the family."

Ezra smiled - he would be glad to stay there; at least then he wouldn't be left with any more witch relatives or friends of Maude while she was fighting demons somewhere. He had been left with other adults as far back as he could remember, but they weren't always very kind to him.

"I've baked a special cake for you, Ezra," said Gloria with a friendly smile. Terrence used one of his half-Whitelighter powers to orb the cake onto the table, which was covered in their special tablecloth for the occasion. The cake had white candles arranged around the edge in a circle, and in the middle, in blue writing, it said "Welcome to the Potter family, Ezra."

Ezra grinned; his mother had never even bought him a cake - things were certainly looking up for the half-witch, half-demon boy.

**To be continued in Part 6: The Fifth and Sixth Sons**


	15. The Fifth and Sixth Sons Teaser

**Part 6: The Fifth and Sixth Sons by Lu**

The Charmed Seven Family Past Series Disclaimers: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved.  
Author's Note: I used the first name of the friend who got me into Charmed, for JD and Vin's mother, but the character is not intended to resemble the friend in any way.  
Main Characters: Michelle Dunne Tanner, Michael Tanner, Nathan, Vin, JD  
Series Note: Follows Part 5: The Third Son. This story takes place before and after Vin and JD are born.  
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Jessie Jane for her input which has helped me improve this story.  
Closed AU until this whole series has been posted.  
Warnings: Deaths of some major characters (parents of Vin and JD) - not gruesome deaths though.  
Hanky warning: You may need a hanky for a few scenes of this story, especially the first two.  
Spoilers: A few spoilers about JD and Vin for "The Seventh Brother". Spoilers for "The Magnificent Seven" episodes: "Ghosts of the Confederacy" and "One Day Out West".

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

**Teaser**

Many years ago, before Gloria and Terrence Potter were born, there was a town called "Four Corners", plagued by crime, in one of the western states of America. Bank robbers and other such criminals, armed with guns and not afraid to shoot people to get what they wanted, made the town an unsafe place for all who lived there. One particularly chaotic day, the town's sheriff and deputy cowardly fled from the town, too afraid to stay there any longer.

One of the men who lived in the town, named Nathan Jackson, worked as the town's doctor, although it wasn't an official position. He was in his late twenties and was dark-skinned - a former slave who'd been a stretcher-bearer in the Union Army where'd he'd picked up medical information from a field hospital. Nathan was almost hanged in Four Corners because he'd been unable to stop a white man from dying of gangrene - men who worked for the dead man had blamed Nathan for their boss's death so had wanted to avenge it, especially as their boss's doctor was dark-skinned.

Two un-prejudiced and fearless American men, who were skilled at riding horses and fighting, joined forces and rescued Nathan from certain death. The two men were a blond named Chris Larabee, and a Texan with medium brown shoulder-length hair named Vin Tanner; they both happened to be in the right place at the right time.

After that, the three new friends teamed up with four other white American men (some were existing friends of the first three men) to save a quite distant, Native American village of a tribe called the Seminoles. It was being threatened by a group of cruel and racist, white Americans – formerly members of the Confederate Army who had fought against the regular U.S. Army in the war; the Confederates had lost and all the slaves had been freed. The group was led by a heartless and racist man, who was a former Confederate Army colonel named Colonel Anderson. The village was eventually saved by the seven men, who had defended it until the group of attackers was no longer a threat. The men rode their horses back to Four Corners after the village was safe.

A new circuit judge came into Four Corners shortly after the men had ridden back to the town, and the men were persuaded to stay there as peace-keepers. By that time, the seven men were all firm friends, although there were some closer friendships within their group. Then, they did a very good job of protecting the town and its citizens, but some good people still lost their lives when the seven were unable to protect them.

The men grew older, but they continued to protect the town as long as they were able. Working hard at their jobs didn't stop them finding wives and starting families, meaning that there would be future generations to continue their family names - names their descendants would be proud of because of their forefathers' many good deeds.

When Nathan was fifty-two years old, he became ill and eventually died, as there was no cure for his illness. One week after Nathan died there was a small funeral held for him, and only his remaining closest friends attended to pay their respects. Their oldest friend and fellow peace-keeper, Josiah Sanchez, had died five years before Nathan's death after his heart had grown weaker and weaker until it stopped completely.

During the funeral, Vin Tanner, wearing a smart black suit for the occasion, wept openly for the loss of his friend as Nathan's coffin was lowered into the ground. An older, similarly suited man with short and slightly graying blond hair - Chris Larabee - stood beside him and laid a supportive hand on Vin's shoulder.

"He died after many years of doing what he liked doing best, Vin," said Chris comfortingly.

"I know, Chris, I jus' can' believe he's really gone," answered Vin, his speech broken up because of his crying. That day was the saddest day of his life so far; he'd never thought about losing one of his close friends - he didn't like to think of such things, hoping he'd be the first to go. Of course, they'd all been just as sad when Josiah had died, but Josiah had been older and they'd been more expectant of the outcome from the onset of his illness. Nathan's very sudden death took them by surprise and deeply saddened them all.

"He's gone to a far better place now, Junior - they don't have no crime and he won't never need to patch up any injured folks ever again," said another man with graying, dark-brown hair and a mustache. He was Buck Wilmington, Chris Larabee's oldest friend - they'd known each-other even before they'd been in Four Corners. "All the bad ones go to Hell, Junior."

Vin looked at the gravestone beside the open grave - the person buried there was their oldest friend and fellow peace-keeper, Josiah Sanchez, and he would've had something to say in agreement with Buck's words, as he'd believed strongly in things like Heaven and Hell. Thinking about that, opened the dam further, and more tears fell from Vin's eyes.

Another dark-suited, dark-haired man, about five years younger than Vin walked over. He pulled Vin into his arms and let him cry into his chest. "Let it all out," he encouraged through his own tears. The man who was then comforting Vin was JD Dunne, the youngest of the peace-keepers.

Chris and Buck walked over to join another man who was slightly younger than them, with glasses and graying mid-brown hair. He was slightly younger than Nathan and the man's name was Ezra Standish.

"How you holding up, Ez?" asked Buck, still trying to keep his own tears at bay. He didn't want to cry in front of his friends - even if some of them were crying in front of him. Someone had to be strong for the others' sake.

"I can't believe he's really gone," answered the man in a southern drawl, sounding on the brink of crying. "It was so sudden."

"He had a good life though, everyone has to go eventually."

The six men all looked at the grave and remained silent, remembering the good times they'd shared with their friend.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Not long after the saddest day of Vin's life, Vin became ill and was confined to bed.

One day, in the early morning, Chris and Buck stood by Vin's bed, sad that their group was slowly breaking up, and missing the days when they were all together, without any health problems.

"He's not goin' to get better is he?" asked Buck, his voice low and sad.

Chris shook his head, a lump forming in his throat at the thought of losing his best friend, who was slowly dying. He'd bonded well with Vin from the first moment their eyes met across the street, when they'd seen Nathan before he'd been put into a noose to be hanged. There had been a silent communication between the two, simply by meeting each-others' eyes and exchanged nods, and they'd gone after the hanging party to rescue the dark-skinned man.

Suddenly, Vin opened his eyes and looked at Chris, who was watching him. Then he spoke in a weak, soft voice; "Cowboy, thanks fer everythin'. I'm goin' ta join Nate an' 'Siah now." Then Vin closed his eyes and his chest stopped moving. He was at peace with the world and would soon happily re-join the two friends he'd lost.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Many years later, both Vin and Nathan accepted the Elders' offer to become Whitelighters, as a reward for the good work they'd done during their lives, protecting the good people from the bad ones. They found it easy to believe that witches and other magical beings were real as they weren't alive anymore and anything was possible since there was really an after-life.

Josiah hadn't accepted the Elders' offer of becoming a Whitelighter, as he wanted to spend the afterlife with his sister, Hannah. In the afterlife, people were cured of all ills, so Hannah was now as sound of mind as Josiah. The two lived together in Heaven, happy to be reunited and glad that their cruel father was somewhere else and would never be near them again.

**To be continued…**


	16. The Fifth and Sixth Sons Chapter 1 of 4

**Chapter 1**

Many years later, when Four Corners existed only as a ghost town...

In Austin, Texas, a slim and fairly short woman with pale skin and long golden hair named Michelle Tanner, was listening with joy in the doctor's office to the sound of her baby's heartbeat. She was seven months pregnant and looking forward, with much excitement, to the day when her first child would be born.

Unlike most children, Michelle's child was magical - Michelle was a witch and the baby's father was a Whitelighter - Michelle's Whitelighter at that. That fact didn't stop Michelle from having check-ups with ordinary doctors who knew nothing about the real existence of magic. She was even going to give birth to her baby - half-Whitelighter and half-witch - in a normal hospital. The baby's father might not be there though - he had disappeared a few months into Michelle's pregnancy. She suspected that it was something to do with the Elders not approving of Whitelighters getting involved with their charges. The Elders always meant well though, and Michelle hoped that they'd send him back to her eventually.

The thing about Whitelighters, was that they had many charges to guide and look after - fathering children would be one more job for them to add to their lists; either Michael would be too busy with the baby or he'd be too busy looking after his charges to spend much time with his wife and child.

Michelle and her Whitelighter had got married after they'd found out she was pregnant. It had been a quick ceremony and kept secret from the Elders, who still disapproved of Whitelighters and witches becoming romantically involved, although they didn't usually say nor do anything if that rule was broken. There were quite a few witches and Whitelighters who were couples now, and the amount of half-Whitelighters in the world was steadily growing. Michelle had added her Whitelighter husband's surname of Tanner to the end of her name, as she was proud to be a "Dunne" and didn't want to lose that name, making her become Michelle Dunne Tanner.

"Your baby has a good strong heart-beat, Mrs. Tanner," said the Indian Doctor, Dr. Singh, with a smile. "Are you sure you don't wish to know which sex it will be?"

"I'm certain I'd rather not know the baby's sex, Doctor," said Michelle with a smile. Somehow, Michelle had gotten away with not having an ultrasound done - she was scared that the doctors would find signs that the baby was magical, and she couldn't risk exposing her or her baby's magic to anyone. That meant that she couldn't find out the baby's sex until it was born - but Michelle didn't mind if she had a boy or a girl anyway, as she'd love it just the same regardless of its sex.

The Doctor talked to Michelle about a few things concerning pregnancy and birth, then they ended the appointment.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

While Michelle was at the doctors, Michael, her ex-Whitelighter was talking to his Whitelighter friend, Nathan Jackson, in the heavens, the place where the Elders lived and worked; also the place where Whitelighters stayed when they weren't with their charges. The heavens weren't accessible to anyone without the magic to travel to them - they weren't just in the sky, so even planes and birds couldn't reach them. Birds would probably drive the Elders crazy if they could fly there.

Michael didn't look very healthy, because he was unhappy that he'd been forbidden from being with Michelle anymore; he hated watching his wife from a distance without being able to talk to her or listen to his child's heart-beat. Whitelighters could be in the same place as their charges without being on the earth-plane, so their charges wouldn't be able to see or feel them there.

"Vin?" asked Nathan; his friend was staring into space rather than listening to him.

"Nate, I already told ya, m' name's Michael, not Vin," answered Vincent Michael Tanner, the former one-seventh of the Four Corners' peace-keepers, who'd adopted his middle name as his first, ever since he'd died and become a Whitelighter.

"It takes some gettin' used to - calling you by your middle name. The Elders gave Chris that vision early, to fore-warn him that your child will be in danger - unfortunately they gave him the vision too early, but he worked that out because the clothes worn in the vision haven't come into fashion yet. The Elders want your child to embrace its witch side, so growing up with the Potters will ensure he or she does." In the heavens it was difficult to measure time, so although Chris had received a premonition about Michael's child five years ago, it seemed like only yesterday in the heavens.

"Seems convenient that my child's ma's gonna be killed by warlocks. I don't trust THEM at all."

"I don't trust warlocks either," agreed Nathan whole-heartedly. Warlocks were witches who had either opted to use their magic for evil or had been changed to evil by dark magic.

"No, Nate, I meant I don' trus' the Elders," corrected Michael. "I reckon they have a secret pact with the Underworld if they want to shape people's destinies a certain way. They WANT to kill 'Chelle so's my kid can be 'dopted by witches an' never be taught ta use its Whitelighter powers."

"The Elders would NEVER make warlocks work for them. Maybe it's gonna be Michelle's time to die. You know only the good die young."

"You're right there, though you didn' die that young, remember?" Nathan had been in his fifties when he'd died.

"Everyone has to die sometime," answered Nathan gently. "I'm sorry, but she's going to die and that can't be changed."

"You didn' tell me, but I found somethin' interesting out another way," said Michael, hurriedly changing the subject slightly. "There's a boy with my child in young Chris's premonition - about two years younger. Perhaps one of Michelle's witch friends' children."

Nathan grew nervous at the mention of the younger child - the truth about that child would upset Michael because of how much he loved his witch wife.

"You know more than you're sayin', Nate. Ya mus' tell me what you know," demanded Michael, not bothering to keep his voice low.

Nathan sighed, then began to explain reluctantly. "Michelle will soon meet a human male and they'll fall in love because of how hopeless it seems for you to return to her. She'll become pregnant with a witch-son, giving your child a half-brother."

"NO! She's mine; no man 'sides me will have her." Michael began to pace, angry with what he'd just been told.

"Vin, you can't get angry - you know it won't be good for you if you do. You have to just try to see the good in the situation. Michelle will be able to have a second child and another man to take care of her while you can't, and your son will have a brother to play with."

"My son? I'm goin' ta have a boy?" asked Michael, his anger suddenly turning to joy. He'd always wanted a son and now his friend had let slip that he was to have a son rather than a daughter.

"Oops," said Nathan, hoping the Elders wouldn't find out he'd let slip about the sex of his friend's unborn child.

"I have to be with Michelle - I have ta look after them. Then she won't fall in love with someone else an' have a child with him." Michael began to orb.

"No, Vin, you mustn't..." began Nathan fearfully, but was stopped when Michael disappeared. "There's no tellin' what will happen now." Nathan hung his head - something bad would probably happen, as Michael wasn't supposed to rejoin Michelle - it wasn't part of his destiny. The thought of being parted from his friend again filled Nathan's thoughts, and tears began to fall from the Whitelighter's eyes.

Usually, Whitelighters were unable to outwardly express negative emotions. Part of their make-up meant that they had a very positive personality and were able to keep negative emotions inside; but more-experienced Whitelighters had learnt to openly show bad emotions, after learning that storing bad emotions inside wasn't good for their health. Like with humans, storing negative emotions inside without ever letting them out was painful - it took a mental toll on the Whitelighters over time, as the bad emotions built up inside.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Michael had almost arrived in his and Michelle's home, when suddenly his orbs changed his destination. He ended up in a dark cave; a Darklighter with an arrow pulled back in his crossbow was facing him.

As Michael's orbs disappeared, the Darklighter fired the arrow and it flew into Michael's chest where his heart was; the poison began to kill him on impact.

Michael couldn't call for help or orb out, so never arrived in Michelle's home again, and Michelle didn't find out until much later that he'd died.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Michelle arrived home from the doctor's office, content that her child was healthy. She longed to see her husband again - it wasn't fair that the Elders could just take him from her. Hopefully, the Elders might send him down at least to see the birth of his child.

The months went by and Michelle gave birth without any complications or signs of magic from her first-born. She named him Vincent Michael after his father and didn't attempt to hide magic from him.

When little Vin was eight months old, his mother met a human named John, and he moved in with them a month later. Three months after that on Vin's first birthday, Vin's mom's stomach started sticking out, and the toddler was told that he was going to have a baby brother or sister, although Vin didn't really understand.

One day, Vin was left with his grand-parents: Grandma and Grandpa Dunne, while Michelle went into the hospital to have her second child; then Vin got a little brother named John after the baby's father.

The new child was given Michelle's maiden name of 'Dunne' as John Junior's parents weren't married. Vin took to calling the child 'JD', refusing to call him John as he didn't like that name and didn't like JD's father either, and the name stuck. When John Junior was able to talk, he told people his name was JD.

John Senior, JD's father, was killed in a car accident when JD was only three, and Michelle was left to bring up her two sons alone, having less time to help innocents along with her coven of witches.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Late one night, shortly after Vin's sixth birthday, Vin was awakened by a tinkling sound in his room. He opened his eyes and saw a quite tall and slim man standing beside the bed. The man wore long white robes and had shoulder length light-brown hair. His hair was only a bit darker than the little boy's hair.

"Vin, 'm here to tell you about your Whitelighter half," informed the man in a soft, gentle voice. "I'm the ghost of your father, Michael Tanner." There was the faint hint of a Texan accent in the man's voice.

"Pa? Am I dreamin'?" asked the little boy, surprised to see his father there.

Michael thought about it, then decided to tell Vin he was dreaming. Then the little boy wouldn't tell people his father had really been in his room. "Yes, Son, yer dreamin'"

Michael started to tell the little boy about his Whitelighter powers, demonstrating orbing to the boy, but telling Vin it wasn't safe for him to try it until he was older. Michael didn't stay for long, and his last words were 'remember you're a Tanner'. Then white orbs appeared, and Vin waved as Michael orbed back to his plane. Vin never saw his father again.

**To be continued...**


	17. The Fifth and Sixth Sons Chapter 2 of 4

**Chapter 2**

As Vin grew up, he kept his Texan accent, honoring his father's origins. His younger brother JD spoke with a Boston accent, the accent his mother had, as she was born there. The family continued to live in Texas, content to stay in the house that Michael Tanner had persuaded Michelle to buy when it was for sale.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Almost seven years after Vin Tanner Junior was born, Nathan Jackson was called to see the Elders while he was in the Potter house; the tone that the Elders were using to call him meant that it was urgent, so Nathan almost immediately left the house.

The Potters had adopted three magical children out of the many children they'd rescued from danger - Josiah Sanchez, Chris Larabee and Ezra Standish; the sons all knew that Gloria and Terrence weren't their biological parents, as the Potters didn't believe in lying to children unless it was really necessary. The Potter family were unaware of the past, when seven men had served together as peace-keepers in an old west town, bearing identical names to the Potters' adopted sons. Nathan had realized the strange coincidence when he'd first learned of the rescued boys' names and recognized them as his former Four Corners friends' names.

Then Michelle's sons had added to the coincidence, as they were named JD Dunne and Vin Tanner - two more names identical to the peace-keepers' ones. There were then five modern-day magical males with names matching those of members of the Four Corners' seven peace-keepers.

Two of the Four Corners' peace-keepers still didn't have name-sakes in the modern-world - one being Nathan Jackson - one of the seven who'd become a Whitelighter after his death. Nathan's theory was that the children were all descendants of his Four Corners friends, who'd all eventually settled down and started families. He'd had two sons with his wife, Rain, but perhaps somewhere his family line had stopped, meaning it made sense if he was the only Nathan Jackson with a connection to the Potters. Or maybe, Nathan thought, the modern-day Nathan Jackson would never know the Potters, as it wasn't allowed for two people with the same names to be involved with the magical family.

Nathan wondered if a modern-day Buck Wilmington would ever become linked to the Potters. The names would then all be together again as modern-day incarnation of the seven men - if that could include one of the original peace-keepers, who was now an angel. It looked to Nathan like the seven were meant to be together as a group of seven magical people - modern-day peace-keepers who would protect people - like the Four Corners' seven had done, although without magic to help.

Nathan planned to ask the Elders about the strange occurrence: that most of the peace-keepers had modern-day namesakes AND that the namesakes were all being united, like the originators of the names had been.

Upon Nathan's arrival in the heavens, one of the very senior Elders stood facing Nathan, looking very serious.

"You needed to see me urgently?" questioned Nathan calmly.

"Yes," answered the senior Elder, whose name was Lawrence. "We are finally able to tell you what we knew before Michael was killed. We were keeping him away from Michelle because her whole family was being targeted by the Underworld."

"Her children are destined to be very powerful in the future and destroy many demons and other evils. Even with the parents dead, the children would still be powerful - therefore the Underworld decided that all the children and parents must die. As soon as they detected that Michael was on his way to visit his wife, they had a Darklighter redirect his orbing path to a cave and kill him there. Michelle has been attempting to trace Vin's father and has discovered the Underworld's plot to kill her family."

"Michelle and her coven are planning to fight the warlocks soon, to protect her family's future. She will take the boys with her, because they have no-where else to go. A clear premonition will be planted in Chris's mind so that he will be able to rescue the children, but the coven of female witches will all die, as the male witches will be unable to rescue them. You will assist whoever carries out the rescue, but you won't tell them anything you know about the Tanners or the Dunnes. If you reveal your knowledge, you will also be in danger from warlocks. Don't tell ANYONE that you already know about the children and Michelle and Michael Tanner."

"I suppose it was too dangerous to tell them about this?" guessed Nathan.

Lawrence nodded at Nathan, a serious look on his face. "Yes, that is why we left them believing that we were keeping Michael away because he had a relationship with a witch. When things are safer for the children, the truth will be revealed."

"When is Chris going to receive the premonition of the children? How can we make sure we save them in time?"

"Tomorrow is the day that the witches are going to fight the warlocks. Chris will know the exact time and place for rescuing the children. Once he tells you, you will orb whoever is to be the rescuer to the children. Nathan, we don't blame you for Michael's death and never have; even Whitelighters make mistakes and reveal information they shouldn't sometimes. Even if you hadn't told him that he was to have a son, he still would've tried to orb to his wife. You mustn't let Chris feel your guilt when you rescue the children - you have no reason to feel guilty anymore."

"Thank you, Sir," said Nathan with a slight smile. "I already feel less guilty for what happened; I still wish I could've saved Michael though."

"It was his time to die - he wasn't meant to be saved, Nathan," explained Lawrence gently.

Nathan didn't look happy about Lawrence's information as he orbed back to the Potters to finish the talk he'd been having with Josiah. His younger witch friend reminded him slightly of his friend with the same name from his own lifetime, although there were quite a few differences as well. The young witch named Josiah wasn't as religious as the older peace-keeper with the same name had been, and never saw things that he interpreted as signs to mean something was going to happen to him.

The original Josiah Sanchez had seen crows and he'd seen them as a sign that he was going to die soon; in the native Seminole Village, Josiah had lost some blood and come quite close to death, but Nathan had made sure that Josiah, the oldest peace-keeper, hadn't died.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

The next day as promised, Chris suddenly received a premonition of Vin Tanner and JD Dunne waiting in the forest while their mother and some other witches were killed in a battle with eight warlocks. Then the warlocks came after the two boys and killed them, because no-one had saved them in that possible future. Chris saw natural indications of the time of day in his visions and somehow felt that the attack would happen that day.

Chris had been taught by Gloria about shadows and other natural things indicating the time of day - all useful ways of telling what time it was in premonitions if there was no clock seen in the vision to help them. It was vital to know how soon an innocent was going to be in danger, as not knowing could mean they got to the innocent too late. Gloria received premonitions of past and future events; the future ones always happened within the next twenty-four hours, meaning that she or Terrence and their sons had to quickly get to the innocents before it was too late to save them.

Ezra volunteered to rescue the boys alone - a suggestion that wasn't well received. It wasn't safe for a lone, twelve-year-old, half-witch, half-demon to rescue the boys. Nathan volunteered to travel with Ezra to save the boys, easily convincing them that he was as surprised by the premonition as the brothers. Gloria and Terrence had gone away for the weekend after being reassured by Josiah and Chris that they could cope if they had any innocents to save in their parents' absence.

Ezra and Nathan then orbed to the forest to rescue the boys.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Two boys sat together under a tree in the forest, waiting for their mother to return from the meeting with her friends. The boy of seven had shoulder-length blond hair, while the younger boy of five had short mid-brown hair.

"How long is she gonna be?" whined JD, the younger boy, impatiently. It seemed like forever since his mama had left them there, and he was getting hungry.

"I dunno, but she said we had to wait here until she comes back," replied Vin, his older brother. There was nowhere else for them to go anyway, unless JD could remember the way back out of the forest.

A loud bang was heard from somewhere and JD grabbed Vin and clung tightly to him in terror. "What was that?"

"It was miles away, don't worry."

A young man with dark skin walked out from behind a nearby tree, followed by an almost-teenage boy with short medium-brown hair.

"Where did they come from?" asked JD in wonder. He hadn't heard them walking through the forest and his hearing was very good.

"Just stay close to me," said Vin quietly, as the two newcomers approached them.

"Are you two Vin and JD?" asked the man who was American, but of African ancestors. "We have come here because we know your mother won't be coming back for you and we're here to take you to a new home."

"Mama IS coming back - she just went to talk to her friends for a while," said JD, who talked well for a five-year-old. He didn't like the look of the medium brown-haired boy at all.

"Your mother has joined the spirit plane now and will be unable to return in her human form except as a ghost. Her friends were witches just like she was and they were all attempting to destroy evil warlocks. Unfortunately, the warlocks were too powerful and there were no survivors among the witches. You two must come with us to people who will take good care of you and help you learn to use your inherited powers," explained Ezra, the twelve-year-old boy.

"Vin? You said no-one could kill mama," said JD, tears beginning to form in the little boy's eyes.

"I didn't think they could, JD. I guess we better go with these two now, because I believe 'em about Mama. I lied to you about why we came here - she WAS meeting witches in the forest to kill warlocks, but I didn't want to scare you; I'm so sorry," said Vin sadly, missing his mama.

"You shoulda told me. I'll never trust you again," said JD quietly, before Nathan gently picked up the upset little boy.

"Vin? We have to go before the warlocks come here," said Ezra, walking closer to Vin. Vin begrudgingly took hold of his hand, accepting that it was for the best. Ezra then held Nathan's hand as the orbs appeared and took them home.

**To be continued...**


	18. The Fifth and Sixth Sons Chapter 3 of 4

**Chapter 3**

After Vin and JD were rescued by Nathan and Ezra, then traveled with them, they arrived at the Potter house.

Vin let go of Ezra's hand when he found himself standing in a strange house. A moment ago, they'd been in the forest and suddenly they were in the house. Vin had never been orbed somewhere before and was amazed at how quick it was. Vin still hadn't tried orbing anywhere himself.

Vin wondered how long they'd have to stay somewhere else until his mother came to get the boys and take them home. He wasn't really sure that she was dead - his mother was really powerful and she might've just been wounded. Her Whitelighter would soon heal her, then she'd come and get the boys once she found out where they were.

"Where are we? Is this your house? Can we live here too for a while?" asked JD, asking too many questions at once like always. He'd stopped crying now, feeling safe with the brothers and feeling sure they'd take good care of him. Maybe his mom wasn't really dead - how could any of them know without seeing her? If she was okay, she'd soon find both the boys and take them home.

Nathan calmly answered all of the young boy's questions; "This is the Potter family's house. I don't live here, I'm their Whitelighter. As for you two living here, I don't know. It depends if the Potters can take you in or not." Nathan could sense that the two boys were unsure whether to believe the words of strangers - when innocents didn't see the dead bodies of their loved ones, they didn't always believe that the people were really dead.

"That's okay; we'll just find somewhere else to live," said Vin soberly, not wanting to cause any trouble for the men.

An older blond man walked into the room then and looked at the two young boys. "Hi, my name's Josiah Sanchez. You must be Vin and JD?" He smiled warmly at the boys.

"Hi, I'm Vin. Uh-oh," said Vin, before he disappeared in blue and white orbs. Then he reappeared in the same spot.

"He keeps doing that," complained JD, not thinking anything of it except that it was annoying.

"He must be half-Whitelighter and half-witch; I sense witch heritage in him," said Nathan, as he walked over to the boy and put his hand palm outward on the boy's forehead. Vin let the man do it, sensing that Nathan was a real Whitelighter, and he knew they were never evil.

"I've never met a young half-Whitelighter before - it's a pleasure to finally meet one," said Ezra, smiling at the younger boy.

"A lot of good I am, can't even control m' orbin'," complained Vin, clearly frustrated by his lack of control.

"I can sense a lot of power in him. If he can learn to control his powers, he will be very powerful," informed Nathan, as he took his hand off the boy's forehead. "I need to see the Elders; why don't you see if you can learn of their witch powers while I'm gone?"

A blond boy in his late teens walked into the room then. A girl of a similar age with long dark-brown hair walked beside him. They looked with interest at the two young boys, whom they'd never seen before.

"Those are the two from my premonition, Sarah," recognized Chris, the blond seventeen-year-old. "Mom and Dad are gonna be so surprised when they come home and find two more kids here!"

Chris walked closer to the two younger boys and smiled at them. "Hi, I'm Chris Larabee," he greeted.

JD answered for both of them. "I'm JD Dunne and he's Vin Tanner, we's are here to hide from the nasty mens who our mom and her friends were fightin' with. Can we sleep here tonight?"

Chris nodded. "Sure you can, Kid."

"Where are they going to sleep though?" asked Sarah, who was in the same high school year as Chris. She knew that the Potters didn't have any spare bedrooms, and Gloria and Terrence were due back the next day. Chris had told Sarah about his premonition and she was pretty certain that the boys would need to stay with them for more than one night.

"I'd be happy to give them my room once I've found my own home," said Josiah, who was already looking for his own house now he had enough money saved for a deposit on one.

"I could share with you in the meantime and they could have my room, Josiah," said Chris with a smile. "So, are you half-Whitelighter as well, Kid?" Chris had somehow sensed that Vin was part-Whitelighter and he was pretty sure that the two boys were brothers. Chris couldn't normally sense things like that, but his powers must be growing even more and now they enabled him to sense magic in people he met.

JD looked down at the ground. "No, I don't have no magic. My daddy was a human."

Vin walked over to JD and put his arms around his brother comfortingly, sensing that JD was upset that he wasn't half-Whitelighter as well. "Maybe you do have some magic though, Mom was a witch, remember?"

"I don't have no magic, Vin. You's are better than me." JD began to cry and buried his head in his brother's chest.

"I wish Mrs. Potter was here to make some cookies," said Ezra, feeling hungry.

"Cookies? Can we have some?" asked JD, excitedly turning back from his brother's embrace; then he began jumping up and down on the spot. "I love cookies, so does Vin. I likes chocolate chip ones - they's are the bestest."

"Mom makes the most delicious cookies. It's a shame she's not here to meet you two - she loves children. Josiah makes pretty good cookies though," said Chris. Then he went to JD and picked him up and gave him a hug - he could sense that the little boy felt sad, thanks to his empathic power that he'd developed recently. That power was the one that must be growing to help him sense if people were magical.

"Mr. Siah can you make us some cookies?" shouted JD excitedly, squirming in Chris's arms.

Chris put the little boy down - it seemed he wasn't too keen on being hugged by anyone he didn't know very well. The blond hadn't had much experience with children, as Ezra, his only younger brother, had been quite mature throughout his childhood since the Potters had rescued him. Chris would love to have kids of his own one day and really needed the practice - if they could keep Vin and JD, that would give him the practice he needed. He had been taught how to handle children a little bit by Terrence and Gloria, but he hadn't taken in much of what they'd told him.

"I'll make some cookies for you both, if you'll do something for me first," said Josiah with a smile.

"Anythin' for cookies, 'specially chocolate chip ones," answered JD happily.

"You'll work on finding out your magic power for me?"

JD nodded with a smile - having magic powers would be fun, he thought.

Josiah turned to Vin. "Vin, you must have a witch power as you and JD share the same witch blood," said Josiah.

"I guess. All I know I have is healin' an' orbin', but I can't make 'em work 'cept by ac-cident," answered Vin.

"You must have a witch power as well, Son," said Josiah. "You just need to work on finding out what. JD, I'd like you to find out your witch power and learn to control it. We'll work on Vin's Whitelighter ones later."

"Okay, Mr. Siah."

"Are you gonna make us chocolate chip cookies now?" asked JD, jumping up and down excitedly. "With lots an' lots an' lots an' lots..."

"Of chocolate chips?" asked Ezra, stopping the boy from never ending his sentence. JD certainly talked a lot.

"I was goin' to say that. Are we goin' to stay here an' get our own room, an' have our own beds, an' have to eat vegit'balls 'coz I hates vegit'balls..."

Chris chuckled at the little boy's words - eating vegetables wasn't such a big deal to him, but the little kid was at an age where he didn't have so much to worry about like the brothers did. Chris's empathic power was coming in handy because he could feel that JD didn't feel sad about the loss of his mother. Chances were that neither of the younger boys really believed that their mother was dead - they'd never seen her body to confirm it, so were probably waiting for her to come and collect them.

"Breathe, Son. You don't need to say so much in one go; there'll be plenty of time for talking later," said Josiah - JD was starting to wear him out with all his talking. "You can stay here for now and we'll find you somewhere to sleep."

"I'll help them with their powers," offered Chris, then took charge as Josiah made his escape before JD wore him down further - the young man wasn't used to such energetic children. "They can sleep in Mom and Dad's bed tonight. Ezra, you go and get the bed ready for them."

"Are you certain you can handle them by yourself?" asked Ezra, not wanting to do any work.

"Sarah, you'll help, won't you?"

"I can stay for a little while, Chris," said Sarah, happy to help the two cute boys discover their magic powers.

Ezra begrudgingly left to go and prepare the Potters' bed, while Sarah and Chris moved some furniture to make space in the middle of the living room.

"JD, you need to try to concentrate and see if you can make something special happen," instructed Chris, kneeling down so that he could look into the boy's eyes. "I have no idea what you can do, so we'll just have to try different things."

"Okay, Chris," answered JD. Then he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate; it was difficult for the boy, because he still had tons of questions buzzing around inside his head, such as when his mother would come for them.

"Try bringing your arms up. Some witches do things by moving their arms."

JD raised both arms, but he was desperate to talk and ask more questions and wasn't concentrating properly.

Chris frowned when nothing happened, not realizing that JD wasn't concentrating enough. There was a chance that JD's powers had been bound, meaning that he wouldn't be able to use them unless someone unbound them first. It was what some parents did to stop children using their powers until they were old enough to use them responsibly.

"Maybe we need to try a different approach," suggested Sarah. "Some powers are triggered by their users looking at objects, maybe JD's are also."

"JD, open your eyes and look at an object, concentrate on only the object and see if your power does something to it."

JD looked at a book lying on a chair and willed his magic to do something to it, but nothing happened.

"This isn't working, damn it," said Chris, already frustrated because he was anxious to quickly find out the little boy's power.

JD turned to Chris, who was at the side of him, and gestured with his arms at him in disgust. "That's a bad word, Mr. Chris."

Chris didn't reply, but stayed still, staring at the boy.

Vin walked to Chris and waved a hand in front of Chris's face, but the blond stayed very still. "What did you do, JD? You've made him stay still."

"Cool! I can make things still!" shouted the boy happily, jumping up and down. Any magic power would've impressed the little boy; just knowing he had one made him happy.

"Calm down, JD," ordered Sarah sternly. She was worried that JD wouldn't be able to unfreeze her boyfriend and he'd be stuck like that forever.

"You better unfreeze him, JD," said Vin, concerned that JD might not know how to undo his magic.

"I guess I wave my arms at him again, then," said JD, as he gestured with his arms at Chris again. Much to everyone's relief, the blond unfroze.

"Very good, Kid. That power is called freezing. You can freeze demons with it, but it might not work on the more powerful ones," explained Chris, as he was hugged by Sarah, who was so relieved JD had been able to unfreeze her boyfriend.

"Can I go and see Mr. Siah now, please?" asked JD, feeling even hungrier now. "I'm hungry."

"Okay, just go through that door," instructed Chris, pointing to the kitchen door. "I'll try and help Vin discover his power now."

JD ran to the door and opened it.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

"Mr. Siah! Mr. Siah! We founded my power!" shouted the little boy, as he nearly ran into the man holding a baking tray of hot cookies.

Josiah placed the tray down on the counter then looked at the little boy. "Rule number one - no running in the kitchen. Rule two - always LOOK where you're going. Understand? Disobeying the rules could cause an accident," he said sternly.

"I's sorry, Mr. Siah. I don't want to cause no ac-cidents."

"Any accidents, JD," corrected Josiah. If they didn't correct the boy's words, he'd never learn.

"No, there's no ac'cidents," said JD, thinking Josiah was asking him.

Josiah stifled a chuckle at JD's misunderstanding. "I suppose you're wondering if the cookies are ready." When he received an over-enthusiastic nod from the little boy, he replied, "They're too hot at the moment, they'll have to cool down a while. Let's see how Vin's getting on in the meantime." Josiah offered the boy his hand, which JD gladly accepted and they walked into the lounge to see how JD's brother was doing with learning his power.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

"This isn't working," said Chris in despair. Nothing they tried would work to reveal Vin's power.

"Maybe it's a power that's a lot harder ta use," suggested Vin, trying to cheer Chris up.

"Try directing your power at the book again."

Vin stared at the book which JD had looked at earlier, but nothing happened. "The book..." Vin was about to say it wouldn't do anything, when the book appeared in his hand. Vin smiled.

"Wow, he called the book and it went to him," shouted JD happily, having witnessed Vin's power in action.

"It looks that way, Son," agreed Josiah, from beside the youngest boy.

The men helped the boys practice their newly found powers for a while. Sarah had gone home, as she needed to finish a school assignment for the next day.

**To be continued...**


	19. The Fifth and Sixth Sons Chapter 4 of 4

**Chapter 4**

The next day was Monday and it was the day that Gloria and Terrence were due back from their short trip to San Francisco. They had been staying there with some witch friends for the weekend, after being assured by Josiah that the boys would be fine without them.

Terrence and Gloria arrived back in the early hours of the morning, having got an early flight. They crept quietly upstairs, not wanting to wake the brothers up yet.

Gloria was startled upon walking into their bedroom and seeing a blond boy's head sticking out the foot of the bed with his eyes closed; but being a witch, Gloria was prepared for surprises, so remained calm, sure that there was a logical explanation.

Terrence walked into the room calmly, unaware of what Gloria had discovered.

"Terrence, there's a boy in our bed," whispered the woman to her husband, pointing at the child.

"That's my brother," said a sleepy, young male voice from the doorway behind Terrence.

Terrence and Gloria turned and saw the young boy standing there.

"What's going on here?" asked Terrence, looking at the dark-haired boy he'd never seen before.

"Mr. Siah said you's was coming back t'day. He said we could sleep in the bed 'coz you's wouldn't be back 'til later, an' you's wouldn't be needin' it yet..." started JD beginning to tell the adults what Josiah had told him (except with not so many words).

"Slow down, child. I suppose you have a name?" asked Gloria, not failing to notice how much the boy talked. He was like a long-life battery.

"Mine's JD and he's is Vin. We's are brothers. Ezra and Unca Nathan rescued-ed us."

"Oh my!" exclaimed Gloria. Her youngest had carried out a rescue with only Nathan to protect him from demons. "We thought it would be okay to leave the boys alone this weekend. We didn't know they'd have to rescue anyone without us. I wish someone had called."

Vin stirred upon hearing the woman's voice. "Hi Ma'am, you mus' be Mrs. Potter."

"Hello Dear, JD told me your name's Vin and that one of my sons and our Whitelighter rescued you. You're safe here," said Gloria gently, as she lovingly pushed Vin's hair out of his eyes. The boy looked slightly like an angel and she wondered if he and his brother would be able to stay with them.

"We'll be goin' now, Mrs. Potter. You don't have no room for us here, so we'll find somewhere else ta live."

"No, No. We have plenty of room for both of you," said Gloria, wishing that Terrence and her weren't so in the dark about the rescue that had happened while they were away.

"How about Mrs. Potter and I leave you boys to get some more sleep. We'll go downstairs and sleep on the couches," said Terrence. He really must speak to his sons about the two boys when it was a later hour in the morning.

"Okay, Sir," said Vin, too tired to want to give up the bed to its rightful owners.

Gloria and Terrence left the boys to sleep some more and went downstairs, knowing that all would be explained later.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Later that morning, Ezra sat near his parents at the breakfast table to tell them about the rescue of Vin and JD. Vin and JD sat at the table as well, enjoying their bowls of cereal that Gloria had prepared for them.

"So Chris had a premonition in which he saw the boys' mother and her friends in a battle with warlocks?" asked Terrence, having finished deciphered Ezra's long-worded explanation of where the boys had come from.

Ezra nodded at his adoptive father. "Precisely, Mr. Potter. The boys have no living relatives to reside with, so we're going to keep them."

"It's up to us as the adults of this family to decide whether to keep them, and it's not as easy to keep rescued kids as it used to be, Son," said Terrence. It seemed like the brothers had already decided that the Potters would keep the two boys without even discussing it with their parents.

"Where's your father, Vin?" asked Gloria. The boys' father hadn't been in Chris's premonition, but Ezra had said there were no living relatives to take the boys. The Potters hadn't been planning on taking any more children into their home.

"I don't know where dad is," answered Vin truthfully. He vaguely remembered his dream about his father visiting when he was six, but still believed it had only been a dream. He knew that people in dreams might not look how they did in real life, so wasn't sure his father really looked how he had in the dream. The little blond's mother hadn't shown him any photos of his father, and Vin had never been able to find any, although he was sure she must have at least one somewhere. Vin did wish he could meet his father, but didn't miss someone he'd never known. "Mom said he disappeared before I was born. JD's dad died in a car-accident when JD was still a baby."

"You're half-brothers then," realized Terrence; then made a quick decision. "You can stay with us for now." If there really weren't any living relatives for the boys to live with, then he and Gloria would ask the Elders to arrange for the boys to be left to the Potters in Michelle's will, like had happened to enable them to adopt Chris.

Chris walked into the room with Sarah. "Mom, I'm going to stay at Sarah's for a while. The boys can sleep in my room."

"That's very kind of you, Dear. Are you going there now?" asked Gloria, smiling at her independent son. It probably wouldn't be long before Chris and Sarah were married and living in a place of their own. Chris already had a good job after school and was saving up for the future. A tear fell from Gloria's eye.

"Mom? What's wrong?" asked Chris, sensing some sadness from Gloria.

"I was just thinking about how you're growing up so fast. It only seems like yesterday that you were rescued."

"There's no need to be sad, Mom. I'll always be your son, even when I'm all grown up; now these two boys need you. I'm going now and I promise I'll call if I get any more premonitions. I'll keep my cell with me so you can call if you need to."

Chris and Sarah said good-bye and left the house, holding hands.

Gloria turned to Vin and JD, who were sitting with half-empty bowls of cereal in front of them. They had been listening to the conversation between her and Chris.

"Aren't you two very hungry?" asked Gloria, hating to see the wasted breakfast, but knowing that young children didn't often finish a whole meal.

"We eated loads of Mr. Siah's cookies yesterday," answered JD honestly.

"You had more than me, JD," complained Vin, annoyed that JD had eaten lots before he could eat many. Vin loved chocolate - his mother had told him it was a passion he'd inherited from his dad.

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Boys!" commanded Gloria loudly. "There'll be plenty of cookies for everyone; but you have to share them equally. I won't have any arguing over food in this house."

"Yes Ma'am," said both boys together.

"And my name is Gloria, not Ma'am."

"We can't call ya that, Mrs. Potter," said Vin. "Mama always said we have to call adults that we know 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.' then their surname; or if the woman ain't married we have ta call her 'Miss' then her surname." While he was speaking, Vin had started absent-mindedly pushing his spoon around his cereal bowl.

'Vin, please leave the spoon alone,' said Ezra telepathically into Vin's mind. 'Gloria can't stand us playing with utensils.'

"What, Ez? Did ya speak?" asked Vin, startled by hearing Ezra's voice inside his head.

"Ezra!" scolded his adoptive father. "What have I told you about using your telepathy?"

"Only to utilize it if it's really necessary," answered Ezra automatically. It didn't help that when he communicated telepathically, his father heard everything he said; as Mr. Potter also had that power besides his freezing/exploding one.

"I'm sorry, Vin - I didn't mean to startle you with that power," apologized Ezra. "I don't suppose you've ever encountered telepathy in your life?"

"You was talkin' inside m' head," said Vin, amazed by the power.

"Yes, it's called telepathy. I am also able to read minds."

"So if I think of a number, you'll tell me what number I'm thinking of?" asked JD curiously.

"Seven, JD," answered Ezra, reading the little boy's mind. "I am able to control my power so that I can only use it when I need to. I can use it to hear what demons are planning for an attack, then I would have the upper-hand."

JD and Vin looked at Ezra, puzzled by what Ezra meant.

"Never mind. Ahh, here's my oldest brother. Only just waking up are we, Mr. Sanchez?"

Josiah grumbled out an answer, "Looking after trouble magnets such as you uses a lot of energy, Master Standish."

"Me? A trouble-magnet?" asked Ezra in mock-surprise.

JD and Vin giggled in unison at Ezra's tone of voice.

"Boys, you need to get washed up now," instructed Gloria as she collected the breakfast things from the table. "Then we'll go to the stores and buy you some nice new clothes."

"Really? New clothes?" asked JD in disbelief.

"Yes, Dear. It's too dangerous for us to go back to your house for yours." Gloria walked into the kitchen to start washing up the breakfast things.

"Come on, JD. I'll race ya to the bathroom," said Vin; standing up and moving away from the table.

"Please don't run in the house, boys," requested Terrence Potter, from where he was now sat reading the morning paper. "We wouldn't want you tripping up and getting hurt."

"Okay, Mr. Potter."

"Terrence, not Mr. Potter."

JD and Vin left the room and walked to the downstairs bathroom, already settling into a daily routine at their new home.

When the bathroom door was heard banging closed, Gloria smiled; "I guess our parenting days aren't quite over yet."

"I've always wanted younger siblings," said Ezra, as he sat at one of the vacated chairs to quickly finish his homework before school.

Then blue and white orbs appeared, bringing Nathan into the house. After the orbs had gone, Nathan cleared his throat before informing the present family members of the Elders' wishes. "The Elders have revealed that Vin's father is no longer a Whitelighter. A Darklighter killed him years ago and he is only able to be in the spirit plane now."

"That's sad, I don't suppose Vin knows that," said Gloria, feeling sorry for the child who had never had a chance to meet his father.

Nathan retained an impassive look - it was too soon to tell the Potters that he knew a lot about Michelle and her family, including that Michael Tanner had once visited Vin when he was six. "No, he doesn't, Gloria. Vin's Whitelighter half has made it hard for him to openly express negative emotions, although this may fade slightly when he gets older. He is already inwardly grieving for his mother, as he does believe now that she's gone forever, and if he has to grieve for his father as well it could make him seriously ill. Most humans openly show negative emotions and it helps them find relief, meaning they don't have to store it all up inside."

"Are there any living relatives the boys can go to live with?" asked Terrence. As he was also a half-Whitelighter, he occasionally found it hard to openly express negative emotions, but he had found it easier to do so over time.

"Michelle Dunne was an only child and all of her living relatives died before she did. The Elders can't trace anyone else who could take in the magical children and care for them properly, so they're goin' to make it so Michelle willed the children to you in case she died early. You'll hear from a Texas law-firm in a few days, but in the meantime, no-one's going to be lookin' for the children and takin' them away, so they're good as yours already."

Nathan heard the tinkling sound that signaled that the Elders were calling him, so Nathan orbed back to the heavens.

Terrence turned to Gloria, then they began to have a low-volume conversation about what Nathan had just told them.

Josiah wondered what Ezra was doing; the brother had been concentrating on writing in a book throughout Nathan and the Potters' conversation. The oldest brother quietly walked behind Ezra's chair and looked over his shoulder. "You should have done that at the weekend," reprimanded Josiah, upon discovering that Ezra was finishing his homework that he was supposed to do over the weekend - not when he should be getting ready for school. There had been plenty of time before and after the boys' rescue when Ezra could've been doing his homework. The Potters had raised their sons to not let their magical work completely disrupt the non-magical side of their lives.

"And miss my favorite shows; I think not, Mr. Sanchez."

"EZRA!" complained Gloria, as she turned to the two Potter sons in the room. "Schoolwork is more important than TV; and I do wish you wouldn't address your brothers in that manner."

"I'm sorry, Gloria. Sorry, Josiah," apologized Ezra, before returning his gaze to his homework. "If you'll allow me to finish this now, then I can depart soon and arrive at school promptly."

Loud giggling could be heard coming from the bathroom then, so Gloria hurried to see what the boys were up to inside. "Boys? I didn't realize washing was so funny," she commented sternly toward the bathroom door.

Vin opened the door, his T-shirt soaked; "JD splashed me, so I splashed him back," he explained.

"JD, no more splashing, understand? I just asked you to get washed, is that too much to ask for?"

"No," answered JD sadly. "Sorry, Ma'am. No more splashing, we promise."

"Use this towel to get dry, Boys, then finish up in there," instructed Terrence, as he walked to the doorway with a clean towel.

"Yes, Sir," said JD, as he accepted the towel, "thanks." His mother had taught him good manners and he always remembered to use them.

Both boys disappeared back inside the bathroom, closing the door behind them.

"It's just like old times," commented Gloria with a smile.

Terrence put an arm around his wife's shoulders. "We're not too old to have two more, are we?"

"I don't think so, Dear. Once Chris and Josiah had left home, we would've had too much spare time on our hands - there doesn't seem to be as many innocents to save and demons to vanquish these days. At least with these two, we won't be bored."

"I enjoy a challenge and something tells me that we've just been given a big one." Terrence grinned toward the bathroom door.

"It will certainly be a challenge having a half-Whitelighter in the family," agreed Gloria. "I thought having a half-demon was hard, but at least those aren't at risk from deadly Darklighters."

"Mother, I have never been difficult to care for," disagreed Ezra, looking up from his schoolwork. "Please kindly refrain from referring to me as a half-demon, as that denotes that I am half evil and I am certainly not that."

"We didn't mean any offence, Ezra," apologized Terrence. "You certainly haven't always been easy to look after though - especially when you started using such long words and we had to try and decipher everything you said."

Ezra sighed and looked back at his work, trying to work out the answer to the last question. He finally gave up - he'd just leave it blank and pretend he'd missed it.

JD came running out of the bathroom and ran to Ezra. "What ya doing?" he asked curiously.

"I've just been completing my homework, JD."

JD looked at the page of questions and answers curiously. "You don't know the last one?"

"I must've missed that question," lied Ezra.

"It's fifty-seven," answered the little boy casually.

Ezra looked at JD in surprise. "How would you know that?"

"I worked-ed it out. It's ea-zee."

Terrence had heard the exchange and picked up Ezra's book to check. "He sure is a smart little guy - it's correct."

"Hey, not so much of the 'little'," said JD slightly angry.

"Sorry," said Terrence guiltily.

'It could be handy having a clever baby brother,' thought Ezra, with a slight smile.

"Ezra Patrick Standish," scolded Terrence. "You are not to use him to help you with your schoolwork, understand?"

"Of course," answered Ezra; he hated that his father could read his mind. Having then finished his homework, Ezra stood up, packed his book and pens away, and left the room to get ready for school.

Shortly after Ezra left the room, Vin walked in through the open door. "Can we go to the stores now?"

"You'll need to put your shoes and coat on first, Honey," instructed Gloria, glad that Vin was so keen to go shopping.

"Let's go and get ready, Vin," said JD, as he grabbed his brother's hand.

The two boys left the room to prepare for the shopping trip.

"JD's certainly smart, isn't he?" said Terrence in amazement. "I guess we'll have to make sure he goes to the most suitable school."

"We can't split them up, Terrence - they're very close," warned Gloria, thinking about how upset both boys would be if they had to go to separate schools.

"In that case, we'll find one they can both attend."

The boys quickly came downstairs, ready for shopping, and Gloria put on her coat and shoes; picked up her keys and left the house with the boys.

Terrence looked at Josiah and Ezra, remembering when they'd first come to the house. Then he smiled - he loved being a father and he felt truly blessed to have such fine sons. He was happy to have two more if that was what the Elders really wished, and couldn't wait to start teaching them things.

**The End...except for Part 7: The Charmed Seventh, and after that, The Chris Saga (Trilogy) will complete the series.**


	20. The Charmed Seventh Teaser

**Part 7: The Charmed Seventh by Lu**

The Charmed Seven Family Past Series  
DISCLAIMER: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved. The Disney movies mentioned in this story weren't created by me, nor do I own the rights to them - they are used in this story without any money being made from them.  
WARNINGS: None needed.  
MAIN CHARACTERS: Bianca Barrymore/Wilmington (OFC), Charles Wilmington (OMC), Buck, Andrew the Whitelighter (OMC)  
Closed AU until the whole of this series has been posted.  
Author's Note: Bianca Barrymore, Charles Wilmington, Andrew the Whitelighter, and all the evil characters in this story are original characters created by me.  
Walt Disney's "Bambi" and "101 Dalmatians" might not have been available to buy on home video in the time-period mentioned in those parts of the story (early 1980's), but for the purposes of this story, they were.  
Series Note: Takes place before and after Buck was born, but is completely separate from all the other stories in this series. Written to explain about some of Buck's past before "The Seventh Brother". The final scene takes place after the end of "The Seventh Brother.  
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Jessie Jane for her input which has helped me improve this story.  
Spoilers: For "The Seventh Brother".

**  
CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

**  
Teaser**

It was a cold fall's day, and the first day in senior year at high school for many students. Students walked to school that day wrapped up warmly in scarves, gloves and thick coats.

One senior, Bianca Barrymore, was relieved that she could soon leave school and start living the rest of her life freely. Then she'd have no more assignments taking up her time and would no longer be singled out because she wasn't very pretty. Bianca was very nervous about the future though; unlike several of her friends, she was yet to meet her 'Mr. Right'. Wearing thick glasses didn't make her look attractive, but she had tried contact lenses and just couldn't wear them. Maybe once she was free from school, there would be more guys who could see her inner beauty.

Bianca was day-dreaming as the young man bumped into her that morning, causing Bianca's books to go flying. "I'm so sorry," said Bianca nervously, frightened that the man might get angry at her for being such a klutz.

"That's okay, I wasn't looking where I was going," said the man kindly, not wanting Bianca to take the blame for the accident. He stooped down to retrieve his books, just as Bianca did the same, and their eyes met. For about ten seconds they paused in their actions, just studying each other's eyes.

Then Bianca returned to her senses, and hurriedly picked up her books, arranging them neatly in her hands. "I have to go," she said; she wasn't used to talking to boys and just wanted to get away before she did anything else to cause further embarrassment to herself.

"There's no hurry, we've got," he looked at his wrist watch, "five minutes before our first class. My name's Charles Wilmington."

"I'm Bianca, Bianca Barrymore."

"What a pretty name," complimented Charles. "I'm actually a new senior here today...my parents just moved here during the summer vacation. We had...problems with our neighbors at our old place."

"We've had problems with our neighbors in the past as well," replied Bianca, "it's such a shame when people can't get along."

Charles smiled - Bianca had no idea of the problems his family had experienced with their old neighbors. He knew that Bianca wasn't anything like him; if she was, he'd be able to sense it. It would make a change to have a non-magical friend though.

The bell rang and Bianca and Charles discovered they were in the same class; so Bianca could show the new boy around.

**To be continued...**


	21. The Charmed Seventh Chapter 1 of 3

**Chapter 1**

Later that day, the bell rang for home-time and Bianca walked out of school smiling. Her best friend Lisa had missed the first day back as she had some type of bug. Otherwise, Bianca would've shared what was making her feel so happy with her friend. Bianca had had a great day, helping Charles find his way around, and sharing a lot of personal information with the handsome dark-haired boy. No other boy had ever taken an interest in the girl with thick glasses, but surprisingly, Charles had and he seemed to genuinely be interested in her, so she didn't question his motives.

"Bianca, would you like to go for a quick drink?" asked Charles, as he caught up with the senior.

Bianca turned and looked at him. "I'm not even eighteen yet," she answered - she wouldn't get caught for underage drinking.

"Me either. I thought we could get a soda though." Charles had quickly decided he should do his best to keep Bianca liking him - he really wanted to remain friends with her.

Bianca smiled; this guy was as law-abiding as she was and she liked that.

Charles felt relieved that he'd realized that Bianca preferred to adhere to the law. He was trying his hardest to be the ideal match for the woman. He liked Bianca and really wanted to date her.

"Sure, we can get some bottles from that store," agreed Bianca, pointing out to Charles the small store across the road.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Two years later...

Bianca Wilmington was propped up by pillows in her hospital bed, nervously cradling the tiny new-born in her arms. "Please don't do anything magical," she softly pleaded with the baby. The baby just continued sleeping, looking as cute and normal as all the other babies that had been born there within the last month or so.

Charles walked into the ward and sat down in the padded seat beside the bed. "Has he done anything yet?"

"No, thank God. How would we explain it to the rest of the ward if he did?"

"Don't worry, Honey. We'll be out of here soon."

"I wish I'd known a lot sooner that you were a real male witch," said Bianca, unhappy at being thrust into a magical life that she'd had no warning about.

"If you'd known sooner you wouldn't have accepted me to be your husband," reasoned Charles. "I don't see why my being a witch has to be a problem. What's more important is that we love each other."

"Before we moved in together, furniture wasn't always getting broken in demon attacks, and my life was quiet. Now, to add to that, we have a magical child to protect from demons, as well as protect from his own magic until he learns to control it."

"Calm down, Honey; we'll manage," said Charles comfortingly. He stroked one of her hands while she cradled the child in her arms, trying to reassure the young woman who had married a male witch without prior knowledge of it. Bianca had discovered his real identity by accident when a demon had appeared in the house and tried to harm her. Luckily Charles had promptly orbed in with his Whitelighter, and had vanquished the demon.

"At least you haven't run out on me like Lisa's boyfriend did after he got her pregnant," said Bianca, thinking about her best friend raising her child without a father to support them.

**To be continued...**


	22. The Charmed Seventh Chapter 2 of 3

**Chapter 2**

Five years later, the Wilmington family moved to Denver in Colorado, where Charles had found a job with a law-firm that paid very well.

Little Buck was growing up to be quite tall, dark and handsome by that time. So far, the little boy hadn't shown any signs of being a male witch; but Bianca always kept a close eye on him, waiting for the boy to show what magic power he had. The only person who ever baby-sat Buck, was Andrew, Charles' Whitelighter. They couldn't risk Buck being exposed as a witch to any humans, so the magical angel was the only person they could trust to keep their child's magic a secret.

Not long after they moved to Denver, Andrew discovered Buck's magic power - the little boy could change his shape into that of any animal he saw and desired to become. Fortunately, Andrew found that he could use his healing on Buck as an animal and the little boy would change back to his true form; Buck was very amused when Uncle Andy turned him back into a boy. Andrew told the parents of his discovery, and they began to look into how the little boy could be educated without risk of exposing his magic to the whole school.

Bianca was upset about having a magical child; it scared her because it was the first time she had mothered a magical child, let alone a child of her own. Buck could harm himself or risk exposure by using magic in public. Also, Bianca knew that demons liked killing witches - what if they came after Buck when Andrew or Charles weren't around to protect the boy? Bianca started spending time at her parents' house, leaving the child with Charles who could protect the child better with his magic.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Several months after the Wilmingtons had been living at their Denver house, Charles had to go and fight a demon when he was meant to be looking after his son. Andrew offered to watch Buck for him and Charles gladly agreed. By that time, Buck knew that Andrew worked for his father and wasn't his real uncle, but he was still happy to call him 'Uncle Andy'.

"Dada? Why d' you have to go now?" asked little Buck Wilmington. His mother was staying with her parents again, so couldn't be there with him either.

"I won't be gone for long, Buck," reassured Charles. "Be good for your uncle." Then Buck's dad walked out of the front door, closing it behind him. Then he got into the car and drove off.

Andrew, Charles's Whitelighter, knocked at the front door then, and Buck opened it. The little boy was tall for his age and could easily reach up to open doors - a fact that had caused some distress for his mother in the past.

Andrew walked in and smiled down at little Buck. "Have you gotten taller since I was here last?" he asked the boy, with a friendly smile.

"No, you musta shrunk." Buck giggled at Andrew.

"Maybe you're right. What movie would you like to watch today?" Andrew walked to the shelf with children's videos on and looked along the bookcase shelf at the titles.

"BAMBI!" shouted Buck excitedly. "Then I can do my trick again."

"Or we could just watch it without you doing that," suggested Andrew, his serious tone indicating that he didn't want to have to change Buck back from being a baby deer again. Buck couldn't change himself back, but when they'd discovered that Andrew could, Buck had found it great fun to change, knowing that Andrew would always return him to normal. To start with, it had been a fun game for both Buck and Andrew, but then Andrew had started to realize it was a waste of Buck's magic and could also make the child more vulnerable if any demons attacked; so Andrew had tried to stop Buck playing the game anymore.

"I wanna be a deer 'gain though."

"Bucklin. Did your dad tell you to be good for me?"

Buck looked at Andrew with a guilty expression, knowing that arguing with his uncle was naughty. "Yeah," he answered in a small voice.

"You have to do as I say then," ordered Andrew. Baby-sitting a magical child who misused his magical gift wasn't easy - the little boy was too young to understand the real reason for his gift.

"Okay. But I don't wanna watch a movie anymore." Buck stood up and walked to the hallway. Then he jumped on each step as he went upstairs.

Andrew just let Buck thump upstairs, not bothered by how noisy the boy was being. "I'll just leave him to play quietly for a while," Andrew said to himself.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

About an hour later, Andrew walked upstairs to check on Buck. The Whitelighter walked into the boy's bedroom and stopped in shock. A Dalmatian puppy sat on the carpet.

"Buck?" asked Andrew suspiciously. The dog looked suspiciously like he was out of another Disney movie, and Andrew knew that Buck loved Disney movies.

"Woof," answered the dog, wagging his tail.

"I should've told you not to change up here either. Maybe I should leave you like that and let your dad find out that you've misused your magic powers again." Andrew was furious at Buck - surely the boy knew he wasn't meant to change into anything up here either. Before Buck had come along, Andrew hadn't had to baby-sit any young children, so he had to learn from his mistakes with Buck.

The puppy shook its head. Buck didn't want his dad to find out or he'd be very angry with him.

"If I change you back, you have to promise not to change again unless someone says you can."

Buck nodded his head in agreement. He didn't want anyone to get mad at him, as that meant he wouldn't be allowed any candy for ages.

Andrew pointed his hand at Buck, and the boy was returned to his normal self.

"Remember your promise," ordered Andrew sternly. "Daddy will be back soon. Time for a nap."

Andrew waved his hands over Buck and the boy fell asleep standing up. Andrew placed Buck on the bed and covered him with his quilt.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Later that evening, Andrew and his charge, Charles, sat in the living room talking about Buck.

"It would be the best thing you could do for him," said Andrew persuasively. "At the moment he only misuses his magic."

"If I use a binding spell on him, will you use memory dust to wipe all knowledge of magic from his memory?" asked Charles; he knew that Bianca would be delighted if Buck had no knowledge of real magic. Buck would be the normal child that Bianca had always wanted, and perhaps she wouldn't need to 'visit' her parents so often.

"Yeah, sure. But you must promise to unbind his powers when he's old enough to use them responsibly."

"Of course, I wouldn't leave him ignorant of his true destiny."

Charles looked through his big thick magic book, searching for a power-binding spell. He finally found one and read through the page. "It will work so that either I say the reversal spell to unbind his powers, or they automatically become unbound if both Bianca and I die." Charles looked sad at the thought of himself and Bianca both leaving their son.

"That's not going to happen," reassured Andrew, "it's just there to make sure he gets his powers one day even if you don't unbind them."

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Meanwhile, in a dark cave in the underworld, dimly lit by two burning torches on the wall, a young woman with long black hair, which hung loose down her back, stood waiting for her servant to return. The young woman was actually a warlock - a good witch who had been turned evil. Her name was Gail.

Suddenly a large demon blinked into the room with short red horns on his head, and a large bare body colored red all over. He looked around the cave nervously, before speaking in his deep voice. "I bring bad tidings, Mistress."

Gail looked angrily at the demon, who was lower-ranked than her in the underworld and served only her. "I don't like 'bad tidings', Kronor. What is it?" Flames appeared in her eyes in place of her pupils, indicating her anger.

"The child has been misusing his powers again, and finally his parents have chosen to bind his magic. All memories of magic will be wiped from his mind."

"This isn't the news I expected to receive from you, you useless lower-ranking demon."

The demon bowed down to Gail apologetically, pretending not to be hurt by the reminder of his low rank. "We could find a way to unbind his powers if we captured him, couldn't we?"

"NO! We can't, fool," answered Gail, her rage growing at the failure of the demon to capture the boy. "Unbinding good witches' magic is above even my powers. The Source doesn't want him with his powers bound - he cannot turn him into a powerful warlock then. He has already lost one powerful magical child to good witches. I will not report this to the Source, you will. You are more expendable than I. Go now - I don't expect to see you ever again." Gail waved her right arm in the air and the demon magically floated toward the cave entrance.

When Kronor had gone away from the cave, Gail walked to the wall and looked in the mirror that hanged there. She tidied her hair with her hands, then began talking to herself. "The next child won't be so lucky - once we have him changed to a warlock, the prophecy will be broken."

**To be continued...**


	23. The Charmed Seventh Chapter 3 of 3

**Epilogue**

About twenty-three years later...

Buck Wilmington stood facing the two gravestones; his dead parents were buried underneath them. "Mom and Dad, I promise I'll only use my powers for good and I'll do my best to stop more people from being killed by demons," vowed Buck solemnly. "I wish I could've saved you."

"They meant to unbind your powers years ago, but all those demons were taking up your dad's time, so he never got around to using the unbinding spell," explained Andrew regretfully. "I'm sure if things were different, you would have saved them - and they know that."

Buck looked at Andrew, some anger showing in his expression. "He didn't get around to unbinding his own son's powers? This wouldn't have happened if he'd just spared some time to help me."

"Buck, he also didn't want to endanger your life. He wanted to be able to help you learn to control your powers after he'd unbound them, so that you could defend yourself. He needed time to do that. Please, don't be angry at him."

"Good job things have turned out all right. Josiah and his brothers will help me learn things now."

"The Elders helped you meet them, I'm sure of it. They make sure that good things happen to people who deserve them." Andrew looked up at the sky - the Elders were up there watching them. Witches weren't allowed to visit the Elders, but Whitelighters were up there a lot, talking to the Elders and gaining information to help the witches they guided.

"Thanks for being here with me and explaining stuff," said Buck gratefully. His Whitelighter was Nathan Jackson, not Andrew, who had been his dad's one; but Andrew would still remain a family friend to Buck. Buck didn't blame Andrew for what had happened to his parents; Andrew had done his best to help Buck's dad fight the demon, and Bianca had died so that Buck's magic powers could become available to her son.

"I said I'd look in on you sometimes and I wouldn't want to let you down on that. Make me and your parents proud of you."

"I'll try my best. I'm looking forward to saving innocents and vanquishing demons - it sure gave me some satisfaction to put an end to the demon that killed dad." Buck smiled at the memory, as Andrew orbed away, leaving the witch to continue with his magical destiny.

**The End**

**Coming soon…The Chris Saga - Episode 1 (aka Part 8.1)**


	24. The Chris Saga Episode 1 of 3 Chris's F...

**The Charmed Seven Family Past series: Part 8.1 Chris's First Love by Lu  
The Chris Saga: Episode 1 of 3**

DISCLAIMER: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved.

WARNINGS: None needed.

MAIN CHARACTERS: Chris, Canon female (no spoiler)

AU Type: The Charmed Seven. The ninth story written in the AU that puts the Seven in the modern-day Charmed world (instead of the Halliwells) where magic exists, but is kept secret from most humans. The first story written was "The Seventh Brother" which takes place after the end of this current series.

Closed AU until the whole of this series has been posted.

Author's Note: Partly inspired by a few episodes in series 4 of the Charmed TV show; also inspired by a plot in "The Magnificent Seven".

Series Note: The first story of three especially about Chris, predating "The Seventh Brother". Takes place a short while before Part 6: "The Fifth and Sixth Sons".

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Jessie Jane for her input which has helped me improve this story.

Spoilers: None.

**Teaser**

It was the first day of a new high school year for Chris Larabee. Chris was dropped off at school by his father, then Terrence continued the drive to the garage where he worked as a mechanic. Chris sat on the school bench in the school-yard and took out a book - it was too early for any of his school friends to be there yet.

"May I sit beside you?" asked a honey-sweet, feminine voice, from in front of the blond.

Chris looked up and found himself staring into the green eyes of a raven-haired beauty he'd never seen before. "If you really want to," he answered her - no girls were interested in him, so he just thought she wanted somewhere to sit.

"I would really like to. What's your name?" she asked, surprising Chris with the interest she was showing in him.

"Chris Larabee. What's yours?"

"My name's Ella, Ella Gaines. I'm new here today, but luckily my neighbor Sarah already attends here so she's going to show me around." Ella smiled sweetly at Chris.

"It's nice to meet you, Ella," said Chris with a smile. "Who's your home-room teacher?"

"Mr. Fowler; do you know him?"

Chris felt sympathy for the new girl - Mr. Fowler was the strictest teacher in the whole school and wasn't someone he liked encountering.

"Is he really THAT bad?" asked Ella, guessing from Chris's non-answer that he didn't like the teacher.

"Yeah, but his bark's worse than his bite, you'll be fine...providing you don't give him a reason to dislike you."

A slim girl with short dark-brown hair approached the bench. "Ella, who's your new friend?"

"This is Chris Larabee, Sarah" answered the girl. "He's just been telling me that I've got a home-room teacher he doesn't like."

The bell rang then, so the group split up. It turned out that Sarah was in the same class as Chris, but as Chris never paid attention to girls, he didn't know her.

As they lined up to go in, Sarah whispered to Chris, "I think she likes you."

"Girls don't ever like me," denied Chris, who actually quite liked Ella.

**To be continued…**


	25. Chris's First Love Chapter 1 of 3

**Chapter 1**

At lunch, Chris found himself behind Ella in the lunch line. He was studying her slim form when she turned around, as if sensing that she was being studied from behind.

"Hi Chris, sit with me won't you?" she requested.

The blond somehow found himself unable to reject the girl's request, so after they'd got their school-lunches, Chris found himself sitting opposite her at a dinner table.

"Mr. Fowler didn't seem too bad after all," Ella told Chris. "I'm going out of school after this - I'm meeting my brother, would you like to come?"

"I guess," answered Chris, still unable to say no to her. Turning her down would hurt her feelings.

"Great."

The two continued their lunch in shy silence, unsure of what to talk about. When they'd cleared their things away, they walked out of the school together, although Chris didn't walk too close in case people got the wrong idea about them.

Ella told him about how great her brother was as they walked to where he worked. It seemed that the guy was very skilled at sports and had several trophies.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

After the home-time bell had rung that day, Chris exited the school and happened to see Ella hanging around in a quiet corner of the school-yard. She didn't notice him and raised her arm. With her hand palm outward toward the wall, a ball of blue electric pulses appeared in her hand.

Chris gasped in shock - only evil beings could create energy-balls!

Ella threw the energy-ball at the wall, creating a scorch-mark when it hit. Suddenly Ella disappeared, the after-image of her shimmering after she'd gone. Shimmering was a warlock way of transporting between places and planes, and warlocks were witches turned evil.

"Damn it, I finally meet a girl who likes me and she's a warlock!"

"I won't tell anyone, I promise," said Ezra, as he blinked in, in front of Chris. "Perhaps you'll be more fortunate next time." Blinking was a demonic way of transporting and was quicker than shimmering.

"Maybe she's not very evil, like you," said Chris in hope.

"I'm not at all evil," whined Ezra, noticing that Chris had said 'not very evil' instead of 'not evil'. "All warlocks are evil, Chris - if they were good they'd be witches like us, and wouldn't have warlock powers."

"Maybe she's different though, she was really nice to me."

"Perhaps, Chris. My father was a good demon after all. Are you ready to go home?"

"Dad working late again?" asked Chris; Ezra usually only came to transport him home if Terrence couldn't drive them home from school.

"Your assumption is entirely accurate," answered Ezra, who'd just come from his elementary school as he was only eleven years old.

"You're talking like you swallowed a thesaurus again," commented Chris, as he put his hand on Ezra's shoulder.

Before Ezra blinked them home, he answered rudely, "It is so much more pleasant-sounding than the common way you speak."

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Josiah stood at the stove, cooking dinner for the family. Gloria was at a meeting with some other witches, so she had asked Josiah to cook for Terrence, himself and the other boys. She wouldn't be home until late, so would have a snack when she got back. Josiah had learnt to cook not long after he'd joined the Potter family unofficially - he loved cooking.

"There's nothing wrong with how I talk, Ezra," said Chris angrily, as he and Ezra appeared in the kitchen all of a sudden.

"There is nothing wrong with the way I talk either, Mr. Larabee," defended the boy.

"Boys, are you fighting again?" asked their older brother, looking concerned.

"He was making fun of the way I talk," complained Ezra, looking like he was ready to start throwing fireballs at Chris.

"Chris, apologize to Ezra; there's nothing wrong with the way he speaks - it's just different, that's all," said Josiah, sticking up for Ezra as always. "Dinner's almost ready so you better go and get ready now."

"I don't feel hungry," muttered Chris, before he walked out the back door in a huff.

"Fine, more for the rest of us," answered Josiah, shouting.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Chris walked to the bottom of the backyard and into the alley that ran behind it. He hated being the middle brother. The older one always sided with the youngest - it was a known fact.

He began to walk through the alley toward the road.

"Chris? Fancy meeting you here," said Ella Gaines, as she shimmered in, in front of him.

"Hi Ella," said Chris - he didn't want to believe that the only girl who liked him was evil, so would trust her for now.

"Do you live near here by any chance? I was just going to visit my father."

"Really? Why did you risk exposure by shimmering?"

"I know that you saw me earlier, so it wasn't worth denying it," admitted Ella. "You didn't answer my question."

"Yes, I live up the road from here," answered Chris. Then he told her why he was in the alley, feeling he could trust the girl. "I've just had a family argument and I'm running away."

"You're just going to live in those clothes all the time?" asked Ella in amazement.

"I guess I'm not really running away - just away for a while so I can calm down."

"Why don't you come and meet my father with me?"

Chris smiled then answered jokily, "I think I'm meant to have at least one date with a girl before I meet her parents."

Ella laughed, then smiled. "I like your humor, Chris. Come with me now and I'll shimmer you home afterwards."

"I've never shimmered before."

"You'll enjoy it."

**To be continued…**


	26. Chris's First Love Chapter 2 of 3

**Chapter 2**

Ella and Chris walked to Ella's father's house and Ella rang the bell. A man with dark-brown hair answered. When he saw Ella, he walked to her and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Ella, I thought you weren't coming," he said, relieved that she had arrived.

"I met my new school friend on the way and brought him here to meet you, Daddy," answered the girl, as her dad let go of her.

"Hi, I'm Chris Larabee," introduced the blond, taking his cue.

Ella's father looked at him and smiled. "Hello Chris, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Daddy, Chris knows about my powers," informed Ella with a grin.

"Come in and I'll make some drinks for us," invited Mr. Gaines, before leading them into the house.

It was a lot less tidy and clean than the Potters' house and the furniture looked a lot less expensive as well. The rooms were smaller than Chris's family home as well.

"Would you like a cola, Chris?" asked Mr. Gaines, as he took some tumblers out of a high wooden cupboard in the kitchen.

"That would be fine, thanks," replied the boy, as he walked into the living room.

Ella walked in behind him and turned on the TV, then sat down on the sofa. Chris sat down in a lounge-chair nearby.

Five minutes later, Mr. Gaines bought in the drinks on a tray. Ella was having cola as well. Mr. Gaines had a mug of coffee.

Chris accepted his cola from the man and sipped it; it tasted sweet, but very nice. Chris wondered what brand it was.

"It's a foreign brand of cola," replied Ella, as if she'd read the boy's mind.

"It's very nice, thanks," said Chris to Mr. Gaines.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

"Don't panic, Josiah - he'll return in a while, once he's calmed down," said Ezra, as he looked at the worried blond standing beside his chair. "You weren't very fair, taking my side as usual. I made fun of the way he talked as well to tell the truth."

"I thought he was bullying you again, since you're the younger brother," said Josiah, sounding guilty. "I should've talked to him some more."

"NATHAN!" called Ezra, deciding on the course of action to take to find their brother.

Blue and white orbs appeared in the room, and then Nathan stood there as the orbs disappeared. "Something wrong?"

"Chris has run off. Please locate him for us," requested Ezra commandingly.

"I'm not to be used in that way, Ezra. I'm only supposed to be used to help you protect and save innocents. He's not in any real danger, so there's no need for me to 'locate' him for you."

"His dinner is getting cold," commented Josiah, as he placed the plates on the table. "Can you bring him home for us - before he gets into trouble?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't be used for that kinda thing," said Nathan apologetically, remembering the rules of the Elders. "Not unless he gets into real danger."

"I can't sense him like Nathan is able to, otherwise I'd go and retrieve him," said Ezra. "I guess we have to wait until he chooses to return." Ezra returned to working on his school work, trying to work out the math problems he always had difficulty with. The boy wished his father was there to help, but Terrence was still working at the garage. Ezra wished again that he had a younger brother who was smarter than average, then he could do Ezra's homework for him.

"Nathan, promise me you'll go to him if you sense he's in danger?" requested Josiah, worried about Chris despite him being old enough to look after himself.

"Of course I will, Josiah," promised Nathan. "I have to go now - I've got a meeting with the Elders soon."

Josiah stood watching, as Nathan orbed out. Then the young blond man walked outside through the open back door. As it was summer, it was warm enough to leave the door open. He wondered where Chris had gone and decided to check the alley for the boy.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Chris and Ella said good-bye to her dad, whom she didn't live with, then they shimmered out, with Chris holding Ella's hand.

"CHRIS?" asked a loud, scared voice. "Why are you shimmering in with warlocks?"

"Josiah, this is Ella," answered Chris. "She's a good warlock, I promise."

Josiah thought warlocks were all evil as they were witches turned bad, but didn't want to argue with Chris. "I'm pleased to meet you, Ella," said Josiah with a smile. "Where have you two been?"

"Chris visited my father with me," answered Ella. "Don't worry; he lives in a house here, not in the Underworld."

"Chris, your dinner's getting cold. Say good-bye to your friend and we'll go home."

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, Ella," said Chris with a smile. "Bye."

Ella smiled back. "Bye, Chris." Then Ella shimmered out without another word.

Josiah looked sternly at his younger brother. "You have warlocks at your school?" he asked, angry that Chris had to mix with evil beings even at school.

"Yeah, I just met her today, she's new," answered Chris, annoyed with getting the third degree from his brother. "I think she's the only one though and I'm sure no-one else knows she's a warlock."

"I'm sorry for the questions, Chris. But I'm concerned for your safety. I also don't want you falling in with a bad crowd. You're a good person and I'd hate for anyone to change that. Please be careful."

"I will, I promise. I'm starving, let's get back now."

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Two days later, in the evening, Chris Larabee stood in his room looking in the mirror. He was troubled by a concern he'd been having since the day before.

"Mind if I come in?" asked Terrence Potter, who was the adoptive father of Chris, Josiah and Ezra.

"Sure," answered Chris, still studying his reflection with concern.

"Is there something bothering you, Son?"

"I think I'm in love, Dad."

Terrence smiled. "How do you feel about that?" he asked his son, detecting the seriousness of Chris's tone. Terrence sat down on the bed behind Chris.

"Pretty good, I guess," answered Chris. "But she's not like other girls." Chris frowned at the single black hair on his head.

"No two girls are the same, Son."

"Dad, I want to be with her whenever I'm not, but she's really not like other girls."

Terrence looked at Chris in confusion.

The boy stood up and sat down on the bed beside his father. "There's something about Ella that I haven't told you or Mom. I thought Josiah or Ezra might tell you, but I guess they haven't."

"They haven't told me anything about her. What is it?"

"Well, she's a...a..."

Terrence looked at Chris impatiently. "What?"

"I'm sorry Dad, but I don't think you'll like this," said Chris, sure that his father would get mad when he heard the truth. "Ella's a warlock; she's good though, and lives with her mom in the next town. Her dad lives not far from here. They were exiled from the Underworld for being too good instead of evil."

"I'd rather you fell for a witch, or even a human without any magic. But I accept that no-one can dictate who you fall in love with. Just be careful."

Terrence left the room - truthfully, he was upset that his son had fallen for a female warlock, but he couldn't tell Chris that and risk causing a family feud. He had never heard of warlocks being exiled from the Underworld for being too good, but he'd trust that it was true about Ella's family.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Chris looked across the table at Ella and smiled. She looked beautiful in the black gown with shoulder straps she was wearing for their dinner-date. Her mom had helped with her hair so that it looked really stunning piled up neatly on her head. Chris looked equally as stunning with his blond hair gelled to keep it in place and wearing a smart dark-blue suit and matching tie.

"You're so beautiful," complimented Chris, smiling at his date.

Ella smiled back; "Thanks. You're very handsome yourself tonight, Chris."

The waiter brought them the dinner they'd ordered and placed the plates on the table then went away. The couple ate their dinner.

After they finished eating dinner and dessert, they shimmered to Ella's mom's house and Ella invited Chris into the house before he had to go home. Once inside, they began kissing. After a few minutes, Ella pulled away. "I need to get some air."

Chris grinned.

"I want to show you somewhere, hold my hand and we'll shimmer there now."

Chris obeyed and held her hand as they shimmered out.

Then he found himself standing in a dark cave, lit by a few candles.

"She has come at last," said a male voice in the darkness.

"I have bought the witch as you asked," replied Ella, her voice sounding evil.

"Let us begin the trials."

Suddenly, the cave was a lot lighter and Chris saw a red demon in front. He lifted up his hand impulsively and an energy-ball appeared in it, much to his surprise.

"Your father is a fine alchemist, Ella," said the demon with a large grin.

"Huh?" asked Chris in confusion. He closed his hand into a fist and the energy-ball vanished.

"You are one of us now," said Ella, with an evil grin.

"NO!" shouted Chris and suddenly shimmered out.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

"Chris?" asked Ezra, as his brother shimmered into the lounge. "How is it that you can suddenly shimmer?"

"Something bad has happened to me," answered Chris. "Ella took me to the underworld and I generated an energy-ball in my hand."

"Then you just shimmered. I thought you said she was good?"

"It must've been a trick all along. I think I'm turning into a warlock - you have to help me."

Chris walked with Ezra upstairs to the Magic Room. Josiah and their parents had gone to bed, so were unaware of what was happening.

"Grand-mother Potter. Please find us a spell to return Chris back to his usual form," requested Ezra, as he opened the Book.

The magic book's pages began turning on their own, as if blown by strong winds. Then it stopped and Ezra looked at the open pages.

"Return him now to his true being, and remove this creature that I'm seeing," chanted the boy.

Chris felt strong winds blowing around him, then suddenly all was still again.

"Those black hairs you had have gone now, Brother. I'd surmise it has worked. Thank you, Grand-mother."

"Thanks, Grandma, and thanks, Ez. That was too close. I think they might come after us - we have to warn Mom and Dad."

The boys headed to their parents' room to warn them so that they'd be alert if any demons or warlocks went to the house looking for Chris. Chris felt pretty certain that wouldn't be the last he'd see of Ella. He didn't feel any love for her any more - she'd lied to him and tricked him.

**To be continued…**


	27. Chris's First Love Chapter 3 of 3

**Epilogue**

The next day at school, Chris sat on the bench, reading a book his father had given him called "The Truth about Warlocks". Terrence had decided that Chris needed to know a lot more about evil beings so he'd be less trusting in future.

"Any idea where Ella is?" asked the voice of Sarah, as she sat down beside Chris. "I knocked on her door on my way to school this morning, but the lights were all out."

"I'm not sure she'll be in anymore," said Chris, wishing he could tell Sarah the truth.

"I thought there was something suspicious about her, but I'm suspicious of everyone I hardly know. I guess it means you need a new date for the prom?"

"I wasn't gonna go," answered Chris, closing his book and putting it away in his bag.

Sarah blinked her eyes at the bag, and the book flew into her hand.

Chris's mouth opened in shock - Sarah had a magic power! "That was clever," he said, not wanting to reveal that he was also magical yet.

"Ella was a warlock? I'm glad I didn't get too friendly with her. Y' know they trick good witches into being friends with them, then turn them evil, right?"

"Yeah, but I learnt that the hard way," answered Chris, feeling comfortable talking to Sarah about super-naturals and magic now.

"Oh, you okay?" asked Sarah with concern. "I wish I'd known what she was sooner, then I could've warned you." Sarah offered the book back to Chris.

Chris put his hand out and accidentally brushed Sarah's hand as he took the book back. Chris's eyes closed and he started to get a premonition.

Chris saw him and Sarah dancing together at the school prom. They danced closer and shared a kiss. Then the premonition ended and Chris re-opened his eyes.

"You get premonitions, right?" guessed Sarah. "And you just had a good one judging by that grin plastered on your face."

Chris stopped grinning, feeling suddenly nervous. "About the prom..."

Sarah smiled, guessing exactly what Chris was going to say next.

**End of Episode 1 – The Saga continues in Episode 2.**


	28. The Chris Saga Episode 2 of 3 The Retur...

**The Charmed Seven Family Past series: 8.2 The Return of Chris's First Love by Lu**

DISCLAIMER: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved.

WARNINGS: There's a mention of blood in a later scene. Mild swearwords appear in a few places, but nothing really offensive.

MAIN CHARACTERS: Chris, Ella Gaines, Turner (OMC), Ezra

AU Type: The Charmed Seven. The tenth story written in the AU that puts the Seven in the modern-day Charmed world (instead of the Halliwells) where magic exists, but is kept secret from most humans. The first story written was "The Seventh Brother" which takes place after the end of this current series.

Closed AU until the whole of this series has been posted.

Author's Note: In this story, some of the demons and warlocks are named (mostly just surnames) after evil characters in "Charmed" and "The Magnificent Seven".

Series Note: The second story of three especially about Chris, predating "The Seventh Brother". Takes place about three years after Part 6: "The Fifth and Sixth Sons".

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Jessie Jane for her input which has helped me improve this story.

Spoilers: None.

**  
Teaser**

A few torches attached to the rock walls lit the inside of a large cavern in the Underworld. Sitting upon a black chair on a platform with steps, was a large being shrouded in a hooded black cloak. "The prophecy could still come true unless something is done to stop the seven uniting."

"My liege, the rules clearly state that we may not harm a witch whose powers are bound," replied a demon, who was the shape of a large, well-built human, but naked with dark green skin. "The bound powers must be released first."

"We still do not know how to unbind a witch's powers. We can stop the prophecy coming true by destroying the existing Potter witches."

"They are wary of everyone and everything; it won't be easy to destroy them."

The Source grinned. "I have a secret weapon which will aid us in their defeat," he informed the demon. He closed his eyes and chanted some long, unrecognizable words. A long wooden staff appeared in his hands, and he pointed it at the demon. "Now to test this." A blue lightning bolt shot out of the staff and struck the demon, causing him to smoke until he disappeared, still screaming in pain.

"Perfect. Now, I just need a servant who will use this to destroy the Potters for me."

**To be continued...**


	29. The Return of Chris's First Love 1 of 11

**Chapter 1**

Deep in the Underworld, in a large dark, gray rock-walled cavern...

A woman with long, black curly hair stood in the middle of a large circle of demons; all ferocious-looking demons with exposed skins of different colors. Their bodies were better built than most humans and they lacked any hair on their heads or elsewhere. Some demons had two short horns on their heads. The demons didn't wear clothes, not feeling the need for such things.

The woman, who was actually a warlock, was clearly in charge, as she addressed the group. She spoke loudly and confidently, not needing to look at any demons as she spoke. They all respected her, because they were scared of what she would do if they disobeyed.

The woman in charge was Ella Gaines, the warlock who had once been friends with Chris Larabee; but her plan to turn him evil had been revealed before it was complete; then he'd stopped liking her and she had fled to the Underworld.

"The Source has formulated a new plan to rid the world of the Potter witches. We will capture the blond one who is the biggest threat to us. They will come to rescue him, confident that they are powerful enough to be successful. But we will be ready, and I will destroy them all. There is no doubt that they will all come to rescue him, because they have the strongest faith in success when they work together against demons." Ella gave a demonstration of what would happen to the Potters' by pointing her long wooden staff at one side of the circle of demons. Several of the demons burst into flames and disappeared. "I am not afraid to kill any one of you if you do not obey my commands."

The remaining demons all looked very nervous, and remained quiet, not wishing to be destroyed by their direct boss.

"I will be the one to destroy the Potters', so no-one is to cause any serious pain to them, understand?"

The demons all nodded - even the ones that Ella wasn't facing. Even in her guise as a young human, she commanded great respect due to her ruthlessness and her long history of favouritism from the Source. The staff she held could kill anyone, so no-one dared to upset her while she had control of it.

"I have already devised a plan which will successfully capture the half-demon, whom I need for my masterplan to work," said Ella with an evil smile. "Too many bounty-hunters have failed to bring him to the Underworld, and my plan will show just how ineffective their methods are. I need a demon that can create vortexes from the human world to the Underworld for this task. The boy will not expect to fall down a hole and end up here."

A large, red scale-covered demon stepped forward. "That is one of my powers, so I shall undertake the task."

"Good," said Ella, smiling evily and not even bothering to look at the demon who'd spoken. "There is no time like the present so I have heard, so you must go now and bring him to me."

The red demon blinked out of the cavern to carry out his mission.

"When he is here, I shall make a deal with the boy. He will use his relationship with his brother to bring him here."

"What if he won't help you?" asked a dark blue demon with short black horns on his head.

"I can be VERY persuasive," purred Ella, "I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make him obey me."

Ella didn't say that the meeting was over; she just shimmered out. She didn't have very many manners and didn't need to be polite to low-level demons to gain respect from them.

"What are WE supposed to do?" asked a black and red striped demon named Turner. "What is the reason for calling a meeting of us all without giving us any part in her plan?"

"She only assembled us so that we wouldn't interfere with the Potters while her plan is underway," explained a dark green demon angrily. His name was Wickes and he didn't like or trust Ella Gaines, nor did he like any women. He thought she was only so friendly with the Source so that she had his complete trust before she killed him and took his place as the new Source. Demons weren't all friends and many of them would like more than anything to rule the Underworld as the Source, killing anyone who got in their way.

"You never liked Ella, did you?" asked a mid-blue demon with long sharp claws on his hands. His name was Fowler and he was almost as important in the Underworld as Ella.

"I never had a reason to like her. Neither side is safe when she is near; she has killed too many demons without reason. The balance between good and evil will be unbalanced by her if she remains in the Underworld much longer."

"You're just jealous that you aren't as popular with the Source as Ella. It is common knowledge that she is closer to the Source than a male demon could ever be."

A demon in human form, with short dark-brown hair, laughed then spoke loudly; a southern American state's accent was evident in his voice, as he'd lived above ground in the state of Georgia for a while. "I believe that Miss Gaines is only so close to the Source so that she may take his place if fate takes his life before hers, and that in all honesty, she has no respect for him. The Underworld does not need a female Source - there has never been one before."

"The great Devlin knows all about women, doesn't he?" said Fowler, partly mocking the demon. "You have come a long way since your redemption, but remember your place - it is not your place to form opinions about higher ranking beings than you." Many beings in the Underworld and elsewhere had a low opinion of the demon - they thought that Devlin couldn't be a proper demon to have been turned good by a witch's spell. Even the Source seemed to dislike him.

Devlin was the only demon who had ever been turned good by a witch's spell, then had fallen in love with a witch, gotten her pregnant and married her. Demons had eventually caught him and brought him back to the Underworld, and a special demon had brainwashed him so that he was completely evil again.

"We do not all approve of the woman and I think we should cast her out before she causes trouble," said Turner bravely, siding with Devlin, whom he liked.

Wickes looked at his friend in agreement. "All those who are against the woman being of such high rank should unite to bring her down. We cannot have her interfering with our work for her own plans."

Several demons cheered in agreement and walked toward Wickes and Turner to show their support.

"You are all making a TERRIBLE mistake," snarled Fowler, before he blinked away from the cavern.

"Or you are," muttered Devlin, before blinking out of the cavern to take care of some business he had to take care of.

Wickes turned and faced the demons who had just become his followers. "We won't let HER kill all the witches. If she succeeded in killing all of the Potters' she would definitely be next in line to the Source's throne - then she could kill him and take his place. That is the only reason she wants to kill them herself. If we can prevent her from doing so, we may be able to trick her into confessing the truth. Then the Source will want her dead, as her plan violates several of the Underworld's rules."

Turner smiled, showing his large and sharp white teeth. "I take it you've already got a plan?"

"Of course. Unlike Gaines, I will give tasks out. I don't want all the glory to myself."

"We are ready for your instructions," said one of the youngest demons named Corcoran, who had green skin, and had lost his brother, who had never returned from meeting with the Source. Corcoran was scared of Ella, so was very hopeful that they could get rid of her so he wouldn't have to fear the female warlock killing him at any moment.

Wickes began to tell the other demons his plan. He had already had one part carried out when he had previously asked another demon to distract her so that she wouldn't spy on the meeting, which he had planned to hold after she had disappeared from the meeting she had called.

**To be continued…**


	30. The Return of Chris's First Love 2 of 11

**Warning: There's a minor swearword used in this chapter.**

**Chapter 2**

Fifteen-year-old Ezra Standish was walking home from school one very warm day, when he stopped walking and sniffed the air. Evil was close; he could always sense it because of his demon-half. Beside him, his younger brothers - Vin and JD - stopped and watched Ezra, unaware that their brother could sense evil. Ezra always walked to their elementary school that wasn't far from his, so that he could protect them from evil all the way home.

"What's wrong, Ez?" asked Vin, who was ten, looking at the older boy with puzzlement. He'd never seen Ezra sniffing the air before.

"Evil!" answered Ezra, thinking that the one word was a clear answer.

"Evil?"

"I can sense an evil presence near to us. We must get home quickly. Vin, you take John home; I'll meet you there."

Vin grabbed eight-year-old JD's hand before the smaller boy could protest being called John - Ezra didn't seem to like calling him JD much. Then Vin orbed himself and his younger brother to the Potter house.

Turner, the red and black colored demon, blinked in, in front of Ezra. "I have only come to warn you; not to harm you. There is a female warlock plotting to destroy all of your family..."

"A demon? WARNING me about an imminent attack by the Underworld? Has the Underworld gone insane?" asked Ezra, not taking Turner seriously. He was amused that a demon was actually warning him about an impending demonic attack. It was nothing new for his family to be in danger from demons, but it was for an actual demon to warn them.

"She is only doing it to gain favor with the current Source, then take his place as our ruler."

"And you are opposed to it because she's a woman and you are so old-fashioned that you look down upon women in positions of power?"

"NO!" answered Turner, becoming frustrated with the boy. "She decides too easily to kill other demons. If she was the Source, the Underworld would be losing demons to her temper too often. Then there would be more witches than demons and the balance of power would be unbalanced."

Ezra smiled. "Then we would have the upper hand."

"If she was the Source, she would make the whole world bow down to her. With the Source's powers, she could do that. She does not respect that there must be some good and evil in the world, and she would drastically upset the balance if she could."

"Why did you come to warn ME of all people?"

"You are part of her plan. You are in danger when you walk outside. You must stay inside until Gaines has been vanquished."

"Gaines? ELLA Gaines?" asked a shocked voice.

Ezra and the demon turned around to face Chris Larabee, Ezra's twenty-year-old brother, and Nathan, the Potters' Whitelighter.

"You must be Chris Larabee," assumed Turner, quickly piecing things together. "She spoke of your name in her plan also. Most witches do not know her real name - only those she has chosen to tell. And your Whitelighter sensed your younger brother, another of his charges, and brought you here."

"Why is a DEMON talking to WITCHES?" asked Nathan, sounding very suspicious of Turner.

"There is a revolt against Ella in the Underworld, as we do not trust her. She will be the ruin of good and evil, for the balance would be upset by her if she became the Source. The world would be changed into one that neither good nor evil would like."

"That makes sense to me. There have been occasions in history where good had to join with evil to stop another evil unbalancing the world. After all was put right, good and evil would break their connection and fight once again." Nathan thought back to when he and his peace-keeper friends in the old west had been captured by the men threatening the Seminole villagers. One of the bad men had changed sides, as he didn't like what his boss was doing to unarmed people. Having that man on their side had helped the peace-keepers in the end.

"We should go home and tell Mom and Dad about this," decided Chris. "I guess you'll have to come in after we've spoken to them and tell us everything you can."

"Okay, when you're ready for me just call 'Turner' and I'll be there," agreed Turner and blinked himself away.

Chris and Nathan orbed to the Potter house and Ezra closed his eyes to blink there. He found it easier to focus on his destination with his eyes closed.

He started to disappear from the street, but suddenly his blinking power was stopped. Ezra tried blinking again, but nothing happened. "Damn it!"

**To be continued…**


	31. The Return of Chris's First Love 3 of 11

**Warning: There's a minor swearword used in this chapter as well.**

**Chapter 3**

"You're fortunate that we don't have a swear jar where we're going," said a female voice. There was definite evil in the voice, although Ezra didn't recognize it. "I was counting on the Whitelighter not taking you with him."

Ezra re-opened his eyes and faced a woman with dark hair. "Who the HELL are you?" he loudly demanded.

"You clearly don't recognize me; I'm Ella Gaines," answered Ella, before raising her staff and pointing it towards Ezra.

"What are you doing?"

"What I couldn't trust another demon to do. They would all turn against me if I didn't hold this powerful staff."

Ezra could only stand there in fear as a black swirling hole appeared under him and sucked him down to the Underworld. The Underworld wasn't exactly under the street - the hole magically transported the boy to there.

Ella shimmered out and appeared in the Underworld, just as Ezra reappeared there. Ella walked around him, studying him intently.

Ezra remembered the other demon's warning. "You wish to use me to effect the demise of my family, don't you?" The question was rhetorical, because Ezra believed what the other demon had told him.

"You must be top of your grade at school - coming up with answers so quickly," said Ella, surprised that Ezra had worked out part of her plan so quickly.

"I AM top of my grade at school. Your evil scheme won't result in triumph, as there is at least one rogue demon in your midst. You are correct in your conjecture about mistrusting demons."

"They can only ruin the plan which they know about." Ella didn't explain further - she couldn't tell Ezra too much in case he somehow managed to warn his family.

"I have more powers than other demons and warlocks and can do almost anything I please," said Ella confidently. Then she pointed her staff at Ezra again.

A bright red ray like a laser appeared and moved toward Ezra. It suddenly forked into two and moved toward Ezra's face. One ray went into his left eye while the other went into the right. Ezra's pupils turned the same shade of red as the rays.

"You will obey only me and no-one else. Bring Chris Larabee to me alive and don't harm him. Understand?"

"I will bring Chris Larabee to you without harming him," chanted Ezra, his voice free of emotion. "I will obey only you."

"It works," shouted Ella, jubilantly. She had been unsure whether hypnotizing Ezra would actually work, as he had mind powers and they might work against the hypnotism rays. "Now, go and bring me Chris Larabee."

"Yes, Ella." Ezra blinked out to carry out Gaines' orders.

Ella smiled - her plan was working very well and soon she would destroy all the Potter witches. Then it would only be a matter of time before she could kill the Source and become the new Source.

She was glad she had killed the demon that could create vortexes - he would probably have betrayed her behind her back otherwise. Ella knew that there were demons who didn't like or trust her - demons who didn't want to see her crowned as the next Source. They would go behind her back, as they knew that if she discovered who was against her, she would use one of the staff's powers to kill them.

Fowler blinked in then, and bowed down before Ella. "Soon, the whole of the Underworld will bow down before you, Ella. Then no-one will dare betray you."

"It is good to know I definitely have you as a loyal follower. I may have a very special job for you in a while, so don't go too far away."

Fowler smiled, showing his pointed yellow teeth. "I can't wait. Just call and I'll be there." Then he blinked out, still smiling at Ella.

"My plan cannot fail now," said Ella to herself. "I shock myself with my own brilliance at times."

**To be continued…**


	32. The Return of Chris's First Love 4 0f 11

**Warning: Mild swearword used a few times in this chapter.**

**Chapter 4**

Chris and Nathan orbed into the kitchen of the Potter house, startling Gloria Potter, who was cooking dinner, with their sudden appearance. "Christopher Larabee and Nathan Jackson, How many times have I told you two not to orb into the kitchen? Especially when I'm cooking."

Chris looked very apologetic, not meaning to upset his adopted mother. "I'm sorry, Mom. We need to call an urgent family meeting - there's someone with urgent news who'll be here as soon as we call for him."

"That would explain the premonition," said Gloria, recalling the premonition she'd had that morning when she'd been making Chris's bed. Gloria had seen a demon standing in their house, but the premonition had ended before he'd spoken. To begin with, Gloria hadn't had sound in her premonitions, but as time had gone on, she'd started to hear noises in her premonitions, such as talking or background sounds. "Has Ezra come home yet? Vin and JD said he stayed behind to fight a demon; I hope Ezra didn't get hurt."

"That's what we need to have a meeting about, Mom. That demon only went to Ezra to get our help; not to fight him."

"We don't help demons, Son," said Terrence Potter sternly, as he walked into the kitchen. Terrence walked over to the stove and lifted the lid off a saucepan to see what was inside. He hastily replaced the lid and stepped back in disgust.

"That's a special remedy to cure JD's stomach bug, Terrence," said Gloria, with an angry look directed at her husband. "He complained of having one when he came home this afternoon."

"That should certainly kill the germs; I don't even want to know what's in it."

"Dad, Ella Gaines is in the Underworld," informed Chris urgently. They had to take action before they were attacked.

Terrence looked at Chris questioningly, trying to remember where he'd heard that name before. "Have I heard of Ella Gaines?"

"Terrence, Chris was almost turned evil by her," reminded Gloria, not surprised that her husband didn't recognise the name. Terrence had a terrible memory for names of people they met.

"Oh, THAT Ella Gaines."

Gloria looked at her husband with an exasperated expression.

"She wants to destroy your whole family, Terrence," informed Nathan seriously.

"Don't all demons?" commented Gloria, smacking Chris's hand away from the cookies cooling on a baking tray on the counter. "Those are for the children. Last time I looked you were TWENTY years old and no longer a child."

Chris stared down at his feet; ashamed of himself for even thinking he could snatch a cookie when his mother was there.

"I seem to remember asking earlier if Ezra had come home yet," pressed Gloria, worried about her only adopted son who was half-demon, rather than just a witch.

"He was going to blink here while we orbed," said Nathan, before he tried to sense his half-demon charge.

"Why didn't you let him orb with you?" asked Terrence, upset that they'd left Ezra on his own when he would be most vulnerable to demonic attacks.

"He likes his independence, and 'sides he can defend himself. Damn, I can't sense him anywhere."

Terrence became angry with Nathan for leaving the younger boy on his own. He shouted at Nathan. "You're right 'damn'. If anything happens to that boy you'll be in big trouble - and not just with the Elders."

"Sir, I didn't think anythin' would happen," said Nathan, feeling very guilty now. "He was goin' to blink straight back here." Then Nathan orbed out, knowing that if a charge couldn't be sensed, it meant that they were either on another plane or were dead. Nathan didn't think Ezra was dead, as he would've sensed the teenager's pain while he was dying. The Whitelighter then orbed upwards to see the Elders – they would know what to do about the situation; they always knew what action to take next.

"Let's meet this demon of yours in the living room and find out what he knows." Terrence had calmed down a little, knowing that staying angry wouldn't help matters.

Most of the group walked into the living room, but Gloria stayed in the hallway and called Vin and JD down from their room upstairs. They came thumping down the stairs, until Gloria told them to come down quietly.

"TURNER!" called Chris, hoping that the demon could be trusted to arrive on his own and not attack them. Chris had never trusted demons, because they had been the type of evil who had attacked his real family's ranch and killed everyone except Chris, who'd only been two then.

Turner appeared, looking grim. "Despite warning your brother, he was still caught. Ella's plans have changed; she is even less trusting of demons than we first thought. She captured your brother herself and he has been hypnotized to carry out her orders. He is on his way here."

"Damn Whitelighter," fumed Terrence. "If he'd orbed Ezra here as well, he would've been safe."

"TERRENCE POTTER, I am sick and tired of you blaming people for things that aren't their fault. Even if Nathan had orbed Ezra here, a demon with the right power could've taken him out of the orbs before they arrived at the house."

Terrence looked regretful - he realized now that he was just looking for someone to blame for his son's disappearance. He hadn't wanted to blame his family, so he'd blamed their Whitelighter instead. Now the Whitelighter probably felt very guilty for something that wasn't really his fault.

"This fighting won't help your son," said Turner angrily. "He has been programmed to capture Chris, so that Ella can use him to lure the rest of you to the Underworld. For some reason, Ella didn't just want to capture Chris herself. "

Vin now stood in the room, listening to all that was being said. After hearing Turner's last sentence, he spoke up; "When she tried to turn Chris into a warlock before, Ezra helped him turn back to normal – Ezra told me."

"She must've found that out, and now she wants revenge on Ezra for ruining her plans. By turning him against his own brother, she's going to get that revenge," deduced Turner.

"NATHAN!" called Terrence, deciding what must be done.

Nathan appeared. "I am so sorry, Terrence; you were right..."

Terrence interrupted before the Whitelighter could go on blaming himself. "I shouldn't have blamed you, I'm sorry. Now, you have to take Chris away to a safer place. Ezra's been hypnotized to capture Chris and take him back to Ella."

"Okay, just call us when it's over."

Chris walked to Nathan and took his hand so that when Nathan orbed, he would orb with him. Then Chris and Nathan orbed away.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Ezra continued to keep up the pretence of being in a hypnotic trance – his mind-control power had somehow fought against the hypnotism rays and stopped the boy from being under Ella's control.

From a very young age, Ezra's mother had taught him how to act and lie – to help Maude in her scams. Now, his acting was being put to good use in helping him fool Ella. She thought her plan was working, so Ezra would have the element of surprise when she later discovered he hadn't carried out her commands. The female warlock would learn the truth too late hopefully, and by that time, the Potters would've gained the upper hand on her, from knowing what she didn't.

Ezra quietly thanked his mother for teaching him ways of gaining an advantage over others – he could finally use his skills for a good cause.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Just after the orbs containing Nathan and Chris had disappeared, Ezra blinked into the living room; his eyes were back to normal so it was hard to tell if he was under Ella's influence or not.

"Ezra? Son, are you okay?" asked Gloria, very concerned for her son.

"Must...capture...Chris," said Ezra, sounding like he was in a trance. If anyone evil and unseen was watching, they would be fooled into thinking Ezra was still hypnotized and would report back to Ella that the boy would soon be on his way back with Chris. Ezra knew how demons thought and knew that no demonic spies were smart enough to stay and watch the boy actually capture Chris.

"No, you mustn't. He's your brother and if you capture him, you will lose him forever. You don't want to lose him, do you?"

Ezra shook his head from side to side, pretending to shake off the trance. Then he looked straight at Gloria. "I would estimate that you just de-programmed me, Mrs. Potter. I don't desire to take Chris to Ella anymore." Ezra walked to his mother and found himself quickly pulled into a tight embrace. Even his adoptive mother couldn't see through Ezra's convincing acting.

"We have to vanquish Ella, before she causes any more damage," said Terrence, very upset at the female warlock for trying to control one of his sons and turn him against one of his brothers.

"It won't be that easy," informed Turner. "She is very powerful while she holds the Staff of Powers. It holds the powers of any demons or warlocks she kills with it. No-one knows how many powers it holds which she could use against her attackers."

"I think we may need Josiah to help us - Vin, you orb over to Josiah's place with Ezra and bring your older brother back here. I'll have a look in the Book - there might be something useful in there." It was a good thing that Josiah had that day off and had said he'd be at home all day if they needed him.

"I wish we hadn't had ta send Chris away. I miss him already," said Vin sadly, as Ezra left Gloria's embrace and walked to Vin, ready to be orbed to Josiah's home by his half-Whitelighter younger brother. Vin was very fond of Chris, as the two got along very well, so the younger boy was worried about any harm coming to his favorite older brother.

"I think it's better if Chris stays away until we've vanquished Ella," said Terrence; even though Ezra was back to normal, the demons might think of another way to capture Chris.

"What do I get to do?" asked little JD; the eight-year-old felt left out.

Ezra left Vin's side and walked over to his youngest adopted brother. Then he knelt down to be level with the little boy. "Why don't you help your father look through the Book?" suggested Ezra gently. "You might be able to find something before he does."

"Can't I come with you to Josiah's place?" JD turned on his cute puppy-dog eyes; he really didn't want to stay home while his half-brother went somewhere else. If they took JD as well, he could freeze any demons that tried to attack them - he didn't want Vin to get hurt.

"We won't be gone long. I'm sure you'd help far better if you looked through the Book."

"Okay," said JD, sounding disappointed that he didn't get to go with his real half-brother, Vin. The two had always been very close and were virtually inseparable. It was going to be hard when Vin went up to high school, leaving JD on his own at elementary school. JD was so clever though, that he might be able to join high school at the same time as Vin.

"Be careful, you two," said Terrence to Ezra and Vin, before they orbed out.

JD dashed toward the stairs, eager to look in their magical book.

"Slow down, before you hurt yourself," warned Gloria, wishing the little one would be more careful.

"Sorry, Mom," said JD. Then he walked quietly upstairs, followed by Gloria and Terrence.

**To be continued...**


	33. The Return of Chris's First Love 5 of 11

**Chapter 5**

Across town in a very tidy apartment, Josiah Sanchez sat writing at a desk. He was the oldest of the adopted Potter sons and was now thirty years old.

Josiah was writing a letter to his sister, Hannah. She lived in a special home as she had mental problems due to the abuse of their magic-hating, human father. When their father had married their mother, Maria, he hadn't known that she was a witch; he didn't find out until after she'd had their two children: Josiah and Hannah. After the man had found out his wife was a witch, he had killed Maria because he feared her using magic on him - he feared magic and believed that it was only used for evil. The father had constantly abused the two children after Maria had died, until he was able to send them elsewhere and no longer be responsible for them.

Josiah didn't visit Hannah too often because the visits always saddened him. It was painful seeing Hannah the way she was. So he found it easier to write to her frequently - even though she couldn't write back.

Josiah, being a police detective, hadn't long ago re-opened the case on his mother's death, and had testified against his real father who had always claimed he hadn't meant to push Maria Sanchez down the stairs of their home; but the case was going along slowly. Josiah remembered when he was a little boy and had seen his father deliberately push his mother down the stairs. His father had made no attempt to help the woman lying at the bottom of the stairs, and she'd died.

Vin and Ezra orbed into the small home-office, startling Josiah who hadn't been expecting anyone to orb there. There hadn't been much demonic activity lately, and the family could usually vanquish any evil beings without his help. Josiah always told his parents when he would be at home and available if they needed him - emergencies could happen at any time, and Josiah wanted to be on hand to help if needed.

"'Siah, we came ta get ya," said Vin, letting go of Ezra's hand. "There's a woman warlock who needs vanquishing but she's got a really powerful staff that she could use against us."

"Ahh. That sounds like the Staff of Powers which was created by a powerful sorceress many centuries ago," said Josiah. "It is used to kill evil creatures, then absorb their powers. Then the powers can be used against others by just thinking what you wish to do. It retains all the powers it collects forever. It can only be used by someone evil FOR evil."

Ezra and Vin both looked stunned by Josiah's extensive knowledge.

"I read a lot - I've learnt about these types of things, guys."

"Ella Gaines has possession of it now and she has concocted an evil plan to destroy our whole family," informed Ezra, glad that Josiah already knew about the magical staff so they wouldn't need to explain it to him.

"Wasn't she the one who tried to turn Chris evil?" Josiah received twin nods from his younger brothers. "I'd be interested to know how she got the staff - I read that it had been destroyed a long time ago. We'd better join the rest of our family before she causes any damage." Josiah walked the short distance to Ezra and Vin. He put his hand on Vin's shoulder, while Ezra held the half-Whitelighter's hand on the other side. As long as someone had some kind of physical contact with the half-Whitelighter, they would be orbed as well.

Vin orbed them back to the house, glad that Josiah was so willing to help, despite that he'd been writing a letter to his sister. Vin had seen the letter on the table and had guessed it was to Hannah, as Josiah never seemed to write to anyone else. Keeping in contact with his sister was very important to Josiah.

**To be continued…**


	34. The Return of Chris's First Love 6 of 11

**Chapter 6**

In a large dimly lit cave in the Underworld, Ella Gaines was angry and throwing energy-balls all over the place. She knew that something had gone wrong, otherwise Ezra would've been back by then with Chris.

"Someone needs to calm down," said Devlin calmly, as he blinked into the cave.

"Devlin, do you have any news for me?" asked Ella, as the energy-ball in her hand disappeared.

"There are many demons who don't wish for you to remain in the Underworld. Some would even go as far as telling the Potter witches of your plan, so that you don't succeed."

"Who is the traitor who told the witches?"

"I cannot answer that," answered Devlin. "You know that I could never betray a DEMON. Soon you will be called to the witches, and then they will vanquish you. You must leave now, before it is too late."

Ella glared at him and picked up her staff from the ground. The staff instantly vanished and appeared in Devlin's hand. The action surprised Ella, as she hadn't known that Devlin had a power to summon objects. "Are YOU also a traitor, Devlin?" she asked him fiercely.

"I am only a traitor when it would be to my advantage." Devlin pointed the staff at Ella and watched as she began to fade away. "Wow! I wasn't expecting that."

"That wasn't the staff, you idiot. The witches have said a summoning spell and I'm being summoned to them. The staff only works for one who has become connected with it."

"Have a good vanquishing, Ella. If you ever return you will find yourself bowing before ME." Devlin smiled and waved good-bye to Ella until she was gone. The staff disappeared as well, magically drawn to Ella.

The Source appeared in the cave then, wearing his customary black cloak with black hood, which shadowed his face so only his red glowing eyes showed.

Devlin knelt down in front of the Source. "My liege," he loyally greeted.

"Devlin, now that it seems Ella's plan has failed as I suspected it would, I order YOU to carry out a new plan. Once you can no longer sense Gaines, you will go to the witches' house and kill them all. They are the only witches capable of destroying me, so ALL of them must be eliminated." The Source vanished before Devlin could reply.

"It would be interesting if my son vanquished the present Source and helped me to become the new Source." Devlin grinned - his idea was amusing as well as viable. He blinked out, with a plan forming in his mind.

**To be continued…**


	35. The Return of Chris's First Love 7 of 11

**Chapter 7**

Nathan remained away from home with Chris; the Whitelighter did feel that he was partly to blame for Ezra being caught, and was determined not to let Chris be caught as well. They orbed to a bar - they might as well enjoy the break from fighting evil. It was pretty safe if they stayed in the public eye - demons wouldn't risk exposing themselves by trying to capture Chris in public. Nathan walked to the bar to get them some drinks, while Chris found them a table.

"Chris Larabee?" asked a surprised, but happy-sounding female voice from behind the blond man.

Chris turned toward the familiar voice and smiled. "Sarah Connolly, I haven't seen you in years." Chris and Sarah (also a witch) had been dating for a while, back when they were seniors in high school. After leaving school, Chris had gotten very busy helping Terrence with fighting demons and protecting innocents, and the dating witches had drifted apart. Sarah hadn't said she'd been going anywhere, so Chris had thought she was still in the area, and their paths just hadn't crossed.

"I've been studying at college, but I've finished now. I moved back here to live with my parents until I can find my own place."

"I still live with mine too - magical family-ties, you know."

"What were the chances of us bumping into each other again? Of all the bars in Colorado, we both came to the same one!" exclaimed Sarah, glad that she'd been able to see Chris again.

Chris looked at Nathan questioningly, as the Whitelighter carried their drinks over to the table. Nathan smiled back at the blond. "Just a coincidence, I guess," replied Chris quietly.

"I was fixing to call you as soon as I got settled. Maybe we could go out sometime."

"I'd like that. I'm pretty free lately - actually I haven't dated anyone since you left."

"Hi Sarah, fancy seein' you here," greeted Nathan, as he handed out the drinks then sat down. He'd gotten Sarah a drink as well.

"Thanks for the drink, that's very kind of you. I guess you really do deserve to be an angel!"

"I thought you might like to join us. I've got to go and check in with the others first though - tell them we got here safely. You two enjoy your drinks while I'm gone." Nathan stood up and went to the bathroom. Once inside a cubicle he orbed back to the Potter house, smiling at the successfulness of his match-making. He had been able to sense Sarah, and the Whitelighter had purposely orbed himself and Chris to the same bar as her. Luckily, Sarah was another of his charges; otherwise he wouldn't have been able to sense her at all. He'd conveniently forgotten to tell Chris or the other Potters about Sarah being another of his charges, hoping that maybe he could use it to his advantage to reunite Chris and the female witch. Nathan had a feeling that the two were meant to be together.

Back at Chris and Sarah's table, the two were now sat down and chatting.

"Do you remember Ella Gaines?" asked Chris. Sarah had been friends with Ella while she'd been a pupil at their high school and the two girls had also been neighbors.

"I'll never forget Ella - probably the only female warlock at our school!" answered Sarah with a smile.

"She's back working with the Underworld, but some of the demons there don't seem to like her. Even now, one of them is working with my family to help vanquish her. Ella has a plan to capture me so that my family will try to rescue me from her, and then she'll destroy them. That's why Nathan orbed me here, where it's safe because it's so public."

"Evil wouldn't want to risk exposure any more than good would. How do you know you can trust this demon? Maybe he's really on her side. I'd never work with demons - they can't be trusted. The only exception is your brother - although he is only half-demon. How are your family doing, by the way?"

"They're all fine," answered Chris, happy to talk about the people who had been a real family to him since he joined them when he was two. "Josiah's a police detective and he's got his own apartment now. Ezra's still constantly proving that half-demons aren't always evil like full ones. Vin and JD are growing up, but their powers are still a bit wonky. And Mom and Dad are still the best witches around here and not ones that many demons want to mess with."

"My parents have retired from being witches now and have given up their powers," informed Sarah. "I'm thinking of asking if I can as well - I'd like a normal life with a normal husband and kids."

'Not much hope for us then,' thought Chris - he wasn't planning on giving up his powers any time soon, as he wanted to continue to help people who needed it. He'd really like to be more than just friends with Sarah, like they'd been before she went away.

"I don't suppose you're free tonight are you? I'm going clubbing with some friends - you could join us."

"I'm not sure - magical responsibilities make it kinda hard to have a social life." Chris felt upset with Sarah for not wanting to help innocents anymore - did she not have a heart?

"Okay," said Sarah, sounding a little upset that Chris had turned down her invitation. "I have to go now - family responsibilities." Sarah finished her drink then stood up and left.

Chris remained seated, waiting for Nathan to come back.

**To be continued…**


	36. The Return of Chris's First Love 8 of 11

**Chapter 8**

Back at the Potter house, the Potters had used a spell they'd found in the Book to summon Ella to them in the Magic Room. They had also found more information about Ella in their book, including how to vanquish her. The Book said that she was many centuries old and had been vanquished many times in the past by Potter ancestors.

Ella arrived soon after Terrence, JD, Josiah and Vin had finished chanting, muttering to herself. Ezra thought he heard her say something surprising, and looked her in the eyes before he asked about her muttering. "Did you just say 'Devlin'?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I suppose you wish to vanquish me." Ella held the staff, with one end resting on the floor. The female warlock knew that the Potters would succeed to destroy her, and she was ready - there was no way to escape from the powerful family, and she would die honorably after coming close to destroying the Potters.

"I'm fairly certain she uttered my father's name - we cannot vanquish her until I know for sure."

"Son, we have to vanquish her - she's a danger to us all," explained Terrence, sounding regretful that they would be taking away a chance for Ezra to trace his real father.

Ezra suddenly stepped in front of Ella. He wouldn't let them take away the chance to find his real father. "No! I have to know if she knows where my father is now."

Ella raised the staff, keeping the point toward the ground. "I won't help witches - even if they are half-demons; you'll just have to kill me."

"Son, we'll find your father, but you must let us vanquish Ella first," said Terrence gently, knowing how important finding his real father was to Ezra. The boy's father had disappeared from his life when he was very young, and Ezra had always maintained the belief that his father was still alive.

"Okay," said Ezra reluctantly, as he stepped away from Ella.

Josiah threw the vanquishing potion at Ella, and the glass bottle containing the potion broke as it hit the floor in front of the woman. Then the witches, including Ezra, began to recite the vanquishing spell in unison. Smoke began to appear around Ella, and by the end of the spell, she was completely concealed inside the thick black smoke; then the smoke suddenly vanished, taking Ella with it.

"Now it's safe for Chris to come back," said Vin happily.

"Not quite - first, we have to dispose of her staff before it can find a new owner," said Josiah, as he magically moved the Staff of Powers from where it lay on the floor; but before it could move through the air to him, it vanished.

"Uh oh," said JD, feeling sure it wasn't good if the staff suddenly vanished - maybe another warlock or demon had got it.

Suddenly, Devlin blinked into the room, holding the staff downwards, not wanting to point it at anything in case that unleashed one of its powers. He didn't know how the staff worked

"Who are you?" asked Terrence threateningly, holding his arms up, ready to freeze or explode the stranger.

Before Devlin could reply, Ezra walked over to the demon, somehow recognizing him. "This is my father, Devlin."

"Your memory serves you well, my son," said Devlin with a smile. "You must vanquish the Source. All the powers needed to use against him are in this Staff, and as you are half-demon, you will be able to use it to destroy him. You will just need to think about needing to kill him and the staff will unleash the powers which will bring about his demise."

"NO, he won't do that for you; even if you are his father. Ezra does not take orders from demons," said Josiah, as he motioned with his arms and Devlin fell against the wall. Luckily for Devlin, Josiah didn't fling him too hard, so he didn't fall unconscious from the impact.

"The Source wants to destroy you all - if you destroy him first, it will send a message out that even the powerful Source cannot succeed in destroying the Potters and their adopted sons."

"Once the Source was dead, you would work your way up the ranks until you could take his throne and become the new Source," deduced Ezra, trusting his oldest brother over the father he hadn't seen since he was young. "I cannot help a demon, even the one who gave me life, I'm sorry, Father."

Devlin lifted the staff and pointed it toward Josiah in anger, intent on using one of the staff's powers to hurt the man who'd dissuaded his son from helping him. Fortunately, JD was fast to point his hands towards Devlin and the staff to freeze him. Instead, the staff exploded into many tiny pieces, startling JD. The little boy ran out of the room, scared by what he'd just done.

Gloria ran out of the room to calm down the little boy, trusting the brothers and their father to deal with Devlin.

"The boy clearly has more power than he thought," said Devlin, impressed by the power of the little boy.

Turner suddenly appeared in the room; he'd been wondering if Ella's plan was working. Upon noticing Devlin, he looked shocked. "Devlin, what are YOU doing here?"

"The Source personally asked me to destroy the Potter witches since Ella has failed, so I came here to destroy them."

"That wasn't all he wanted ta do," said Vin. "He wanted Ezra ta kill the Source for him, so Devlin could one day be the new Source."

"He's too low-ranking to be in line to the Source's throne," said Turner with a cocky grin. "Unless, he was planning to kill all of you - achieving that would improve his rank considerably. I guess Ella's dead, then?"

"We vanquished her - so we are now enemies again," said Terrence, realizing that the demons would no longer want to help the witches.

Then Mr. Potter turned to face Ezra's father. "Is Turner correct? Were you going to kill us all, including your own son, to get a promotion?"

Devlin stood still, retaining a poker-faced expression; he had never realized that killing the Potter witches would mean killing one of his own kin, who was now also a Potter. He was proud of Ezra - he had heard of how the boy had always evaded capture by demon bounty hunters, and of all the demons his son had helped vanquish. His son was obviously a very brave and skilled half-demon and a definite improvement on Devlin himself. Also, Devlin felt a fondness for the boy - perhaps because he was as handsome as his father had been in his youth. Maybe he actually liked the boy, although he couldn't remember if he ever had before he'd been caught and returned to evil.

As Ezra watched Devlin silently refusing to answer Terrence's question, the boy was reading his father's thoughts, and was finding out that his father did really care about him. Ezra knew then that Devlin would never try to hurt him; even though they were enemies by nature - they were still related by blood, meaning that they couldn't be proper enemies.

"Now, I have something pressing to take care of," said Turner, as he turned to face Devlin. He lifted his hand and a long, sharp knife magically appeared in it. He threw it toward Devlin - he didn't want that demon succeeding in his plan to become the new Source. Turner had trusted Devlin to betray Ella, but not to betray him. By killing all the Potters himself, Devlin would automatically become a higher rank than Turner and next in line to be the Source after Fowler. Turner intended to deal with Fowler soon, because with Ella gone, Fowler would be the next Source if anything happened to the present one.

What neither Turner nor Devlin expected, was for a brown-haired teenage boy to dive in front of Devlin and be hit by the knife himself. Ezra felt the knife plunge into his skin, and then he lost consciousness as the pain overcame him. Blood started to pool on the floor by Ezra where he'd fallen and was now lying.

"Your son is both brave and foolish; you must be very proud," said Turner, before he blinked away from the room, temporarily giving up his plan to kill Devlin. He felt slightly sorry for the boy and would at least let Devlin say good-bye to his dying son.

Devlin looked at Ezra lying on the floor, blood flowing from his wound freely. "Someone help him or he'll die," he said with urgency in his voice, as tears began to fall from his eyes. Devlin muttered a few words of Latin; then, unexpectedly, he vanished.

"NATHAN!" called Vin, desperate for his brother to be saved. He was annoyed at Ezra's father for leaving his son to possibly die; the Potters would never leave their sons if they were dying. Vin and Terrence's Whitelighter healing powers could only heal minor wounds, as they were both only half-Whitelighters, so a full-Whitelighter's healing power was needed to cure Ezra's more major wound. Even two half-Whitelighters' healing powers used together wouldn't be as effective as a full-Whitelighter's - they'd found this out in the past and weren't willing to risk losing Ezra by trying to heal him with their limited healing powers used together instead of just Nathan's.

**To be continued…**


	37. The Return of Chris's First Love 9 of 11

**Chapter 9**

Chris Larabee sat alone in the bar, hoping his family was managing okay in their efforts to vanquish Ella. His powers might not be very useful for harming demons, but he was a good fighter and could still fight demons by using those skills. Chris was worried that his younger brothers could get hurt in demon attacks while he wasn't with them.

"Chris? The Elders called me before I got to your house, and told me that they can sense somethin' bad's goin' to happen there soon. We have to get back to them - there's trouble in the Underworld; it seems that with Ella being vanquished, several demons want to be next in line to the Source. To do that they have to show how powerful they are, and one way to do that would be to destroy your whole family."

Larabee stood up and faced the Whitelighter. "We better get back; we can orb from the alley outside, there are only a few drunks and homeless people there - no-one that would be believed if they saw us orbing."

Nathan and Chris headed outside to the alley indicated by Chris, then the blond held Nathan's hand and they orbed home. Somehow, Nathan didn't hear it when he was called to the house by Vin.

They arrived in the Magic Room and Chris instantly saw Ezra lying on the floor. "We're too late."

The Whitelighter rushed over and placed both his hands over the wound. An orange glow appeared between his hands and Ezra's wound; Nathan's Whitelighter healing power was working.

Gloria and JD came rushing into the room, after a fearful Vin had fetched them. Gloria rushed over to Ezra and knelt down beside Nathan, who was still healing the wound. JD stood beside Vin for comfort. The young boy was still shocked by what he'd done to the Staff of Powers when he'd tried to freeze it.

"He's going to be okay, isn't he?" asked Gloria, worried in case Nathan's healing power didn't cure her half-demon son.

"Yes, Ma'am," answered Nathan. "Luckily, it seems like the knife only hurt the witch part of him. I'd be able to tell if I weren't able to heal him completely." Whitelighters couldn't heal demons or demon-halfs of half-breeds, but because Ezra's demon-half was mostly inactive, when he got hurt, only the witch side of him suffered, meaning Nathan could heal him completely.

Everyone in the room felt a great wave of relief wash over them - they trusted what their Whitelighter told them, and were now sure that Ezra would soon be as healthy as he was before the knife hit him.

Vin wrapped his arms around JD and hugged the younger boy tightly, sensing his brother's distress. One of Vin's half-Whitelighter powers helped him sense emotions and locations of anyone he knew quite well. He'd always been able to sense JD, even when his mom had been pregnant with the younger boy.

"What happened to Ezra?" asked a grief-stricken Gloria, as she knelt down beside Ezra, and Nathan continued to heal the wound.

"Turner didn't want Devlin to become a higher-ranking demon than him, so threw a knife in an attempt to kill him; but Ezra dived and took the knife instead," explained Terrence, as he knelt beside Gloria and held her hand tightly in support.

Nathan pulled the knife out of Ezra and laid it on the floor. The wound then disappeared completely and Ezra opened his eyes.

"Five more minutes, Mrs. Potter," he muttered, before closing his eyes.

"Ezra, Dear?" asked Gloria, relieved to hear her son's voice.

"I'm sleeping, Mrs. Potter."

Gloria smiled, then leant over Ezra and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Don't you remember? You saved your father's life."

The teenager opened his eyes suddenly. "A Darklighter tried to hurt Mr. Potter?" he asked in alarm.

"No, Dear. Don't you remember at all?"

"No, but I do feel a little weak. Did I lose some blood?"

"Yes, you lost quite a lot," answered Gloria. "Go back to sleep now; everyone's fine, I promise."

Ezra closed his eyes again and fell asleep, glad that no-one had been hurt except for him.

"Why can't he remember?" asked Gloria, shocked that Ezra didn't recollect that Devlin had been there. She continued to watch the sleeping teenager - she cared a great deal about all of her sons and was relieved that she hadn't lost Ezra or any of the others that day.

"I think his father may have done somethin' to wipe his memory," said Nathan thoughtfully. "We only know of Devlin's mind-control power besides the usual demonic ones - perhaps he has another one that can wipe people's memories."

"Why would he want to wipe Ezra's memory?" asked Chris, as he walked to Ezra and looked down at the sleeping teen. He had actually felt concerned about Ezra when he'd seen the brunet lying on the floor with the knife in him. Chris had always felt some distrust for Ezra, although he did love him. He didn't often show the half-demon that he cared, but now felt bad about it, and Chris swore that in the future, he'd show the boy that he really did care about him. Otherwise, when Ezra did die, he'd die thinking his slightly older adopted brother didn't care about him.

"Maybe Devlin saw the error of his ways and didn't want Ezra's last memory of his father to be of him wanting to use his own son just to become Source," guessed Vin.

"I'm sure that's not the last we've seen of Devlin," said Gloria, as she smiled at her sleeping son. Some powerful magic must have been used to turn Devlin back to evil, but perhaps that magic would become undone and Devlin would go back to being good. Devlin looked like a demon that wasn't completely evil - perhaps he'd never be completely free of the spell used to turn him good.

A sound like little bells tinkling was heard then, signaling that the Elders were calling Nathan. "I'm being called - I'll see you all later." Then Nathan disappeared as he orbed to see the Elders.

Mr. Potter picked up Ezra and carried the boy to his room, then tucked him into bed; Terrence was as relieved as his wife that none of their sons had been hurt permanently or killed. Josiah followed his adoptive father, needing to make sure that his younger brother was put safely to bed. The oldest son sometimes felt like a father to his brothers because of the age gap between him and the younger witches.

Vin and JD went to their own room to play; they couldn't bath and get ready for bed until they'd had dinner and they weren't sure what had happened to that. They started to build with their Lego bricks, trying to ignore their empty stomachs that were growling.

Chris remained behind in the Magic Room; he couldn't forget his earlier conversation with Sarah in the bar, and was upset that he seemingly couldn't have a future with her. He stood still, just imagining what a future with her would be like if she weren't so against raising a magical family.

"Chris?" asked Vin, as he joined his older brother in the room, having told JD he wanted to see Chris for a while. "What's wrong?" Vin's half-Whitelighter, sensing power had helped him sense Chris's sadness.

"Sarah wants to raise a non-magical family. She wants to give up her powers just like her parents have done."

The half-Whitelighter brother wrapped his arms around Chris comfortingly. "Are ya jus' goin' ta give up on her? She doesn't know what a great dad ya'd make - you've been more than just a brother ta me and I reckon you'd make a great dad."

Before Chris could reply, Vin had orbed them both to the front of the Connolly house. "Vin? Did you mean to orb us here?" asked Chris, surprised by their sudden change of location. His younger brother still wasn't very good with his orbing power and it didn't often work when he wanted. The only time it worked well was when he wanted to orb to a member of his family - he could sense them so would be able to get a lock on them and orb directly there.

"No, I guess I wanted to help ya so much that m' orbin' got us here."

Chris stepped away from Vin and rang Sarah's doorbell; maybe she hadn't gone clubbing after he'd said he couldn't go. Otherwise, Vin would have orbed them there in vain.

Sarah, dressed in mid-blue pajamas and ready for bed, answered the door. "CHRIS? What are you doing here at this time?" She was very shocked to see him there, as it was late evening by that time. She had decided not to go clubbing, preferring to have an early night - she was upset that Chris had turned down her offer to go out with her that night.

"Sarah, I think it would be a big mistake to give up your magical destiny. What's more, I'd like us to try again at being a couple."

"I've been thinking about things since we met up earlier and I realized that if giving up on magic meant cutting you out of my life, then I couldn't do it. I still care for you, Chris."

Vin watched from a distance as his older brother and Sarah chatted on the doorstep. Then he covered his eyes when they started kissing; he thought it was so disgusting when people kissed for longer than a few seconds.

Sarah and Chris stepped back from each other and exchanged smiles.

"I'm not doing anything tomorrow during the day, so if you're free I could drive over and take you out somewhere," suggested Chris, hopeful that Sarah would accept his offer.

"I don't have any plans - only job-hunting, but that can keep for a day," answered Sarah with a grin; "Pick me up at 9.00 a.m.?"

"I'll see you then. Good-night Sarah." Chris leant in for a quick goodnight kiss, which also lasted longer than a few seconds.

"CHRI-IS!" hissed Vin angrily. "We have ta go, 'fore the folks get mad at us."

The older brother stepped away from Sarah and waved, as he held one of Vin's hands and they orbed back to the Potter house.

**To be continued…**


	38. The Return of Chris's First Love 10of11

**Chapter 10**

"CHRISTOPHER LARABEE? Where did you go with Vin this late in the evening?" asked an angry Gloria Potter, as she faced her two sons who'd orbed back into the Magic Room. She had gone into JD and Vin's room to tell the boys that they were having pizza and had discovered that Vin wasn't there, as he'd gone to talk to Chris. Then Mrs. Potter had gone to Chris's room to tell him and Vin about the sudden change in the dinner plans, but Chris and Vin weren't there. She'd guessed they might be in the Magic Room looking at The Book, so had arrived there just before the two missing sons had orbed back.

"He needed ta sort things out with the future Mrs. Larabee," said Vin with a cheeky grin. "I gave him a lift ta her house."

"Sarah's back in town?" asked Terrence, as he walked into the room; he'd heard voices there and had gone to the room to investigate. Too many times he'd found his sons in the Magic Room, using magic without telling an adult first like they were meant to. Most of the un-permitted spells had been cast for personal gain, and that meant they'd had to face magical consequences for their actions.

"Dad, she wanted to give up her magical destiny. Nate orbed me to the bar she was in earlier and we started talking. If it hadn't been for Vin, I wouldn't have tried to win her back tonight."

"You're forgiven for leaving after curfew this time, Vin. But in future you should ask one of us before you go anywhere this late." Chris didn't have a curfew imposed on him because he was too old for one, so he would have only been in trouble for taking Vin out late.

"I'm sorry, Sir," apologized Vin, "I didn' mean ta orb out with Chris, it was an accident."

"We'll work on improving your control of orbing tomorrow after school," said Terrence - it was worrying that Vin still couldn't control his orbing, as he could accidentally orb himself into danger.

"And don't you dare think of orbing to JD, walk like the rest of us have to," said Terrence sternly, reading Vin's thoughts.

"Okay." Then Vin walked out of the Magic Room to rejoin JD.

Terrence motioned Chris to follow him to his den for a short talk; at twenty, Chris was no longer a child and it wouldn't be long before his thoughts turned to raising a family, and Terrence didn't want his son to be unprepared.

Then Gloria couldn't help but go to Ezra's room to check on him; her usual underlying concern brought to the surface with his close brush with death. The boy's room had an occupant beside Ezra, as Josiah was there, watching his younger brother sleeping; he was scared of leaving Ezra on his own in case a demon blinked into the room and hurt the teenager.

"I wish I didn't live so far away, Mother; any of them could get attacked and I wouldn't be here to protect them," said Josiah softly, not taking his eyes off the sleeping teen for even a second.

"You can't always be here for them, Dear," comforted Gloria, knowing that Josiah felt responsible for the safety of his adopted siblings like he had done for his real sister, Hannah. He wanted to look after his adopted brothers better than he believed he had with Hannah - it was his penance for his sister's suffering at the hands of their real father, Raul Sanchez. The girl had been sent to a special home because the abuse she had suffered had seriously damaged her psychologically.

"Even your father and I can't protect them all the time. You were here when Ezra got hurt today, but you couldn't have acted quickly enough to stop it happening - none of us could. That boy is too - excuse my language - damn brave at times. I clearly need to have another talk with him about looking before he leaps - even if he can't remember doing it today."

"Mother, I need to get home," explained Josiah, "it's getting late and I've got work in the morning."

Gloria called Nathan and he orbed into the room.

"Hi, Gloria, Josiah," the Whitelighter greeted.

"Josiah needs to get home so he can get to bed at a reasonable time tonight," informed Gloria. "He has work tomorrow."

"I'd be happy to orb you home, Josiah," said Nathan with a smile.

The man walked to Nathan and put his hand on the Whitelighter's shoulder; then Nathan orbed them to Josiah's apartment.

"Gloria?" asked Ezra, opening his eyes after being woken up by voices in his room.

"We didn't mean to wake you, Dear," apologized Gloria. "Nathan's just taking Josiah home before he falls asleep in here. He was just watching over you - you worried us all with your act of foolishness."

"I remember something - I jumped in front of someone to stop a knife going into them. Is that how I lost some blood?"

His mother nodded. "You don't remember whom you saved?"

"Was it one of my younger siblings?" guessed Ezra, unable to remember what had happened or why.

"It's too late to talk about this now – we'll have all morning to talk, since you won't be going to school tomorrow." Gloria lightly kissed Ezra on his forehead and then walked out of the room.

Gloria didn't want to tell the boy what had really happened - that his real father had come back to see Ezra after all this time, but only to use his son in his evil plans. Maybe something would come up the next day and stop her from having to tell Ezra the truth about what had happened.

The boy felt tired, and closed his eyes. Five minutes later, he fell asleep.

While the boy slept very soundly, a dark figure appeared in the room and stood beside the bed, looking down at the sleeping teen. Then the figure vanished as quickly as it had arrived.

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

In the Underworld, Fowler went into hiding after hearing that Ella had been vanquished. He would avenge her death one day, but for now, he'd rather lie low to avoid letting any demons find out his plans. With her last dying breath, Ella had sent him a message from her mind to his; telling him that her death should be avenged somehow in the future and that she held all the Potter family responsible.

Once Fowler had disappeared, Turner became the next in line to the Source, waiting for the day when the present Source would be killed. Turner wasn't powerful enough to kill the Source alone, so would be waiting for someone else to do it for him - possibly the Potters.

**To be continued...in the Epilogue**


	39. The Return of Chris's First Love 11of11

**Epilogue**

While Gloria had gone to Ezra's room, Chris had followed Terrence into his den for a talk. Chris sat on the cushioned chair in front of his father's large wooden desk. Terrence seated himself in the leather swivel chair behind the desk and took a deep breath.

"Dad, what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Chris curiously.

"Son, if you and Sarah are going to get serious," began Terrence seriously, "I want you to think about your future together. You need to think about getting a decent job which will pay enough to support a family."

Chris laughed briefly. "We've hardly even started dating again - we're not thinking about our future yet. Protecting our family, friends and innocents from demons is a more immediate concern."

"Don't take too long before you plan your future though - none of us are immortal, so we'd like to see you settled before too long."

"Do you think Mom or Josiah will give me the family cookie recipe if I promise to settle soon?" asked Chris, longing to know how the cookies always tasted so delicious.

Terrence shook his head, with a small smile on his face. "I doubt it; they like being able to cook something delicious that none of us know how to make. Gloria will miss you a lot when you move out, and she'll need a reason for you to visit. Making the cookies you love will be one good reason - even if she does always say you're too old for them, she doesn't really mean it."

"Is that all, Dad? I'm taking Sarah out for the day tomorrow, and I agreed to pick her up at 9.00 a.m. So I'd like to get an early night."

The carriage clock on the shelf above the fireplace chimed 11.00 p.m. as if in answer to Chris's words.

"Well, early-ish," said Chris, who didn't usually go to bed much later than eleven anyway. He was usually tired by that time from fighting demons or keeping his brothers out of trouble.

"Go on, Son. I'm sure Sarah won't appreciate you yawning while you're out tomorrow. Good-night." Terrence smiled as Chris left the downstairs den; Mr. Potter was pretty certain that it wouldn't be long before a future generation of witches in their family was started, and he was pretty sure that Chris was the most likely to become a father first out of all the brothers. It certainly wouldn't be Josiah, as that son was too interested in protecting innocents and being a police detective to think about settling down and starting a family. As always, Terrence felt proud of his sons - they were all growing into fine young men.

Gloria joined Terrence in the den. "Everyone's safely tucking up in bed now; maybe we should do the same?"

"I don't feel very tired; I'll stay here a bit longer."

"TERRENCE POTTER," commanded Gloria loudly, "you're coming with me to bed now; and that's an order.

Terrence gulped. "Yes, Dear," he said, never able to disobey his wife when she was in her authoritative mode. Then he followed her out of the den and up the stairs, going into the bathroom to clean his teeth first.

Gloria crept into each of their sons' rooms before going to bed; all the boys were sleeping peacefully, showing no signs of nightmares that sometimes occurred after the boys had faced demons and other evils.

The last son Gloria checked on was Ezra, and she stayed slightly longer in his room, still shaken up that he had been so close to dying that day. Gloria looked up at the ceiling and spoke softly. "Thank you for not taking my son today - or any of my sons for that matter."

**End of Episode 2 – The Saga continues in Episode 3 (The final part of the whole series).**


	40. The Chris Saga Episode 3 of 3 The First...

**The Charmed Seven Family Past series: Part 8.3 The First Grand-child by Lu**

Disclaimer: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved.

Warnings: Some deaths of minor characters later in this story, but no graphic details given. Mention of a cesarean section, but no graphic details.

Hanky Warning: For the deaths in this story.

Main Characters: Chris, Sarah Connolly

AU Type: The Charmed Seven. The eleventh story written in the AU that puts the Seven in the modern-day Charmed world (instead of the Halliwells) where magic exists, but is kept secret from most humans. The first story written was "The Seventh Brother" which takes place after the end of this current series.

Closed AU until the whole of this story has been posted.

Series Note: The last story in "The Chris Saga". Takes place a while before the regular The Charmed 7 AU's "The Seventh Brother". This story spans from when Chris was 24 to when he was 29.

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Jessie Jane for her input which has helped me improve this story.

Spoilers: Minor spoilers for "The Seventh Brother".

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

**Chapter 1 – no teaser in this story!**

One morning at breakfast in the Potter household, seven years after JD and Vin had moved in, Chris had some exciting news to share with his family; so they all sat down to breakfast at the large breakfast table, waiting to hear what he had to say. Josiah wasn't there as he lived at his own place then, but Chris intended to tell the oldest brother of his news later that day.

"Sarah and I are getting married," he proclaimed joyfully.

"Son? That's great news," said Terrence, with a grin; he'd been waiting for the day when he'd be told that Chris and Sarah were going to settle down together.

"That is very good news, Dear," said Gloria with a smile. "We're all very happy for you."

"Does that mean I can have Chris's room?" asked Vin excitedly. "It's much bigger than mine."

Gloria frowned at Vin. "Don't be in such a hurry; he's not moving out today."

JD began to talk with a mouthful of Cheerios; "How come Vin gets Chris's room? Why don't I?"

"What have I told you about talking with your mouth full, John Dunne?" asked Gloria sternly, glaring at the dark-haired, twelve-year-old.

"But Chris is getting married and moving out," said JD, trying to change the subject back to who was going to get Chris's room.

"That's no excuse for forgetting your manners."

"Have you considered who will fulfil the role of best man at the marital ceremony?" asked Ezra, as he smiled charmingly at Chris.

"Not yet, Ezra," answered Chris. "It's going to be hard to choose between my half-demon younger brother, my human best friend, and my good witch oldest brother." Chris winked at Ezra, signaling he wasn't really going to hold being a half-demon against Ezra. The two got along a lot better ever since Chris had almost lost Ezra; Chris had been a lot nicer to Ezra since that event. It was because the blond felt guilty that he wasn't nicer in the past to the boy who had put his life on the line to save his real father - a selfless act that only a good person would do. Gloria had seen it as foolishness, but Chris saw it as courageous and selfless, and he was proud of the younger brother for what he'd done.

"I could be yer best man," offered Vin hopefully, as he ate some toast.

"Vincent Michael Tanner, don't you speak with your mouth full either," reprimanded Terrence from the head of the table.

"Sorry. I jus' think I should get a chance ta be Chris's bes' man."

"We aren't getting married until later in the year," said Chris. "I'm not choosing a best man just yet."

"There'll be plenty of time to arrange it all before then," informed Terrence, before noticing the time and needing to hurry the younger boys up. "Some of you need to get ready for school - you've already been late enough times this week."

Ezra grinned - every time Vin and JD were late to school, the real reason had been that they'd helped him and Terrence fight evil beings; the late-notes had to have a different believable excuse every time.

As well as having innocents to protect, the Potters also had to face attacks from demons and other evil magical beings at the house. The attacks had increased after Vin and JD had moved in. Ezra and Terrence would fight the demons with their active powers; sometimes they'd get Josiah to help as well, but it was difficult for him to help much, as he was a full-time homicide detective with the local police department.

Gloria and Chris would find out what information they could from any premonitions they received - then they would know a bit about the evil they were up against and find a match in their magic book. The magic book listed spells and potions to vanquish the demons from when previous Potter generations had fought them. The evils were either of the same breed as the ones who had appeared in the past, or had been reincarnated by evil magic. There were also pictures of enemies in the book, to help witches positively identify which one they needed to vanquish. Many demons were either of breeds with plenty more of their type in existence, or they were resurrected by strong magic after already being vanquished.

"I hope everyone's finished any homework due in today," said Gloria, with a warning edge to her voice. She wanted her sons to do their best at school, so that they could graduate and get decent jobs - even witches needed to work to earn a living, as being a witch didn't pay a wage. As Josiah was a homicide detective in the police force, he had a job that enabled him to help people for a living as well as in his spare time.

"Yeah, I finished mine and then helped Vin with his," answered JD.

"VIN!"

"He only HELPED me a little bit with it," answered Vin, not wanting to get his half-brother into trouble.

Gloria glared at the two boys. "Boys, you just do your own homework," reminded the woman yet again. "If you need help, you can ask me." She knew that JD's idea of helping Vin with his homework was completing it all for him. The youngest boy was very bright and in the same high school grade as Vin because of it.

Vin struggled with work - he wasn't as bright as his half-brother and having dyslexia that had gone unnoticed for several years didn't help. Unfortunately, when Vin and JD were still living with their real mother, Michelle hadn't had much time to notice if there was anything about her sons that could hamper them in their education. She'd spent a lot of time helping innocents and fighting evil demons and warlocks, sometimes leaving the children with a baby-sitter. The boy's school had seemed to miss Vin's dyslexia as well, so the boy had just struggled and mostly been in a grade below his friends who were the same age as him.

"He did ask me, Mrs. Potter," started Ezra, receiving an annoyed look from Gloria for the way he had addressed her, "but I was busy with more pressing business at the time." He was officially adopted by the Potters, but didn't often call them 'Mother' and 'Father' because he was sure that both of his real ones were still living. He felt that calling anyone else his parents would be betraying Maude, his mother and his demon father, Devlin.

"Ezra, it isn't your job to help them with their homework - you have quite enough of your own responsibilities already." Since Ezra had left school, he'd been helping the older family members protect innocents and fight demons a lot of the time. He was also seeking employment, although really the boy wasn't trying very hard; he didn't like working unless he could be sure that he would enjoy doing it.

JD stood up after seeing the time on his watch. "We're nearly late. Nath..." He was cut off by Terrence's stern voice.

"You aren't to use Nathan for getting to school - you know that risks exposure AND is seen as personal gain," reminded Terrence. "You'll just have to quickly get ready and walk there."

"But Dad..."

"JD! They won't mind if you're only a few minutes late, Son."

"Okay," replied JD reluctantly. "Come on, Vin, we have to get ready."

The fifteen- and twelve-year-olds ran out of the room to finish getting ready for high school.

**To be continued…**


	41. The First Grandchild 2 of 5

**Chapter 2**

Several months later, the morning of Sarah and Chris's wedding day arrived.

Chris was sleeping deeply and failed to hear his alarm clock; luckily, Vin was so excited that he'd got up already and after a while, bounded into the groom's bedroom.

Vin jumped on the bed, waking Chris up with a surprised cry; "What the..." asked the blond, before being cut off by Vin.

"Chris, ya gotta get up now, it's yer weddin' t'day and ya need to get ready," shouted Vin loudly at the blond.

The blond put his hand to his head - he'd had a bachelor party the night before and had drunk a little too much alcohol. "What time is it?" he asked, feeling hung-over and wishing the annoying ringing in his ears would stop. The adult brothers and his father had thrown him a bachelor party the night before.

"Eight. Yer alarm clock's still goin' off." Vin helpfully reached over to the night-stand and pressed the button that turned off the alarm.

"Thanks, Vin. I thought I had a ringing in my ears. I think I had too much to drink last night; can you heal my head, please?"

Vin put one hand, palm-downwards, onto Chris head, and orange light appeared, healing Chris's hang-over. After about fifteen seconds, Vin removed his hand, sensing that Chris's head was cured.

"Thanks, Cowboy." After finding out that Vin liked horses, the 'cowboy' nickname had been given to the boy by Chris - only he called Vin that. "I have to get ready now."

**CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Later that day, the Potters and their three youngest adopted sons sat in the front row at the church where the wedding was taking place. They were all on the look out for any demons or warlocks who might try to ruin the special day.

What had complicated wedding plans more was the discovery that Sarah had gotten pregnant not long after Chris had announced their plans to marry. Chris wanted desperately for them to be married before their child was born, so it had been vital that the wedding take place a while before the baby was due.

"Nervous, Chris?" asked Josiah softly, stood beside Chris as his best man, as they waited for the bride to arrive.

"Me, nervous? Of course not," replied Chris, trying to sound convincing.

In the front row of pews, Ezra found it hard to sit still and quiet, wishing he could have a more active part in the wedding. It was completely unfair that the oldest brother, Josiah, had been chosen to be the best man; Ezra had thought Chris would choose him. Ezra wanted the ceremony over and done with; he was worried that evil super-naturals would be there any minute to ruin the happy couple's day.

"Ezra, if you don't sit still, I'll make you swap seats with Vin," threatened Gloria in a loud whisper. She knew that Ezra wouldn't want to sit beside her, so the threat should have the desired effect on her adopted son.

"Sorry, Ma'am," apologized Ezra, and immediately sat still. At nineteen, he had no wish to sit beside his adoptive mother.

The wedding march finally started up as Sarah, her bridesmaids, and Sarah's father entered the hall through the double doors. Sarah wore a full length white gown, trimmed with lace. She had long sleeves also trimmed with lace at the cuffs, and a long white semi-transparent train that was held up by two bridesmaids at the end. The dress had been specially made for her, costing a lot more than an off-the-rack dress. Her parents and Chris's had paid for the dress, wanting the bride to look perfect for the groom. The other wedding costs had been split between Sarah's parents and Chris. He had a second job to help him earn extra money to save for the couple's living expenses - he'd hardly had enough money saved to pay half the wedding costs, so had decided on a part-time job as a security guard.

As Sarah walked along, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her belly. She stopped walking, startling the bridesmaids, her father, and everyone watching.

"What is it, Honey?" asked her suddenly concerned father, Hank Connolly.

"The baby!" said Sarah loudly and stricken with panic. She was holding her belly as the pain continued.

Talking broke out around the church's hall, as Hank helped his daughter sit on an empty pew that was handily close by in case something like that happened to the pregnant bride. Soon, an ambulance was called to the church as Sarah's pain failed to stop.

**To be continued…**


	42. The First Grandchild 3 of 5

**Chapter 3**

Later that day, Sarah was asleep in a hospital bed in a private room. The baby had had to be delivered two months early, as complications had arisen. Thankfully, both mother and baby were expected to make a full recovery.

Chris and his brothers all sat outside Sarah's private room, as they'd been ushered out to let her rest peacefully. Everyone had been deeply concerned by Sarah's condition and the aborted marriage had been long forgotten by almost everyone present.

Gloria and Terrence had been sent home - someone needed to be available in case any innocents needed saving that day. Chris and Josiah had said they would take care of the others and make sure they got home before it got too late

"This is unequivocally a memory you will never forget," commented Ezra, glad that everything was going to be fine. He'd been scared that his brother's baby might die because of the complications. He didn't want anything bad to happen to his older brother or new family; Chris had suffered enough in the past because of a certain female warlock.

Ezra got along well with children and had been very excited ever since he'd been told that he was going to be an uncle.

"I can't believe this happened on my wedding day," said Chris, the tiredness clear in his voice. He'd been wracked with worry ever since Sarah had to sit down in the church. Then he'd been on edge all the while Sarah was in the hospital being examined, then having a cesarean section.

"Guess we'll have ta rent these tuxes again one day," said Vin, looking down at the suit his father had hired him for the wedding; he wasn't keen on dressing so smartly, he thought it made him look stuffy and old. Although Vin wanted to look older than his age of fourteen, he didn't want to look as old as he thought the suit made him look; boys shouldn't have to wear suits for anything he thought.

"I wanted to be married before we had our baby. Do you realize what that makes our son, because his mom and dad aren't married?"

Josiah shot a warning look at the younger brothers, silently telling them not to answer. It didn't matter if Chris and Sarah weren't married before they had their son - even if Chris thought it did. He didn't want anyone upsetting Chris then - the man had gone through enough that day.

"You know, a lot of people never get married," said JD, trying to make Chris feel better.

"I don't want to be one of those people," snapped Chris angrily. JD stared down at his feet, guilty that he'd upset Chris. "Sarah and I are getting married as soon as her and our son are fit and healthy."

"Brother, things won't be as easy as that," warned Josiah. "Your son will have magical powers and you will need to deal with that first - it would be best to postpone the wedding for a while."

Chris looked toward the sky. "WHY? Why did this have to happen today and stop our wedding? Do YOU people have something against me?" Chris was clearly blaming the Elders for the misfortunes he'd had for several years.

"Calm down, Chris. You are forgetting the good thing which came out of today."

"Josiah's correct; you have a handsome baby son of your own now," agreed Ezra with a smile. "I am positive that the Elders had nothing to do with today's events, and if they'd had any control over it, they wouldn't have allowed it to happen."

Chris sat back down; he'd forgotten that he should be thankful that he now had a son, and both Sarah and the baby were going to survive despite the earlier complications.

Blue and white orbs appeared in the middle of the corridor, signaling the arrival of the Potter family's Whitelighter, Nathan. Nathan stepped forward when the orbs had gone. "I've just seen Gloria and Terrence and they filled me in. Chris, are you okay?"

"I never imagined my wedding day would get cancelled and that I'd get my new son instead," said Chris, really wanting to get some sleep.

"Nathan?" asked JD, looking up at the Whitelighter. "Do you think magic made the baby come early? I mean, it seems strange that she had the baby on her wedding day."

"I'm sure it was just a coincidence," answered Nathan. He was sure Chris wasn't the first groom to get his wedding postponed because of complications in his bride's pregnancy on the same day.

**To be continued…**


	43. The First Grandchild 4 of 5

**Chapter 4**

Almost five years later, Chris and Sarah were happily living together, now a married couple, in a rented apartment not too far from the Potter house. Chris's current job was assistant manager in the local supermarket, after having had several different jobs in offices since he'd graduated from school. Sarah was a stay-at-home mom, happily looking after their home and taking care of their young son, Adam.

One morning, Chris sat at the head of the kitchen table eating toast, while Sarah and Adam sat at one side of the table eating cereals. Adam ate Cheerios while Sarah ate Muesli, preferring to eat healthily.

"Are you going to find out today?" asked Chris when he'd finished eating his toast. He was anxious for Sarah to get her test done so they'd soon find out the result.

"I don't think I need to," answered Sarah enigmatically.

"You think the answer would be positive then?" Chris smiled at his wife, guessing what she meant.

"No, negative. There haven't been any real signs."

"I think you should take the test though, just in case," said Chris, trying not to make it sound like an order.

"If it will make you happy, I will," said Sarah, reluctant to get Chris's hopes up when she was sure the result wouldn't be what he was hoping.

Adam continued to eat his cereal, completely unaware of the importance of his parents' conversation.

**CH7- CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Sarah took Adam to stay with her mother that morning, after phoning her first to check she could baby-sit for her. Sarah wanted to buy the test and take it almost immediately, eager to find out what the result would be. Since she and Chris had spoken about it that morning, she'd started getting her hopes up that she was pregnant. She wouldn't be able to take the test with her young son around, so had needed to get a baby-sitter at short notice; she was fortunate that her mother could take him that day.

Sarah bought the pregnancy testing kit, and then went into a nearby department store's public rest-room with it. She took the test, and then waited for the result.

**CH7- CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

Chris Larabee sat behind his desk at work with thoughts of a new baby constantly in his mind. He was hopeful that after they'd been trying for a baby for several months, Sarah might at last be pregnant with their second child. The radio was playing songs from the sixties while Chris day-dreamed about having a second child.

Chris was suddenly startled when a news report caught his attention.

"A woman and young boy were found dead an hour ago in their home; police say there were no signs of forced entry..."

"CHRIS! There's an urgent call for you on the line," called his assistant from across the office.

Chris picked up the phone, worried about the news report mentioning a woman and boy - he always worried about his wife and son when he left them for the day.

"Chris Larabee," he answered, then listened to Josiah's rushed reply on the other end. Chris's face fell as he listened to the bad news he'd thought some other husband would receive that day.

**To be continued...**


	44. The First Grandchild 5 of 5

**Okay, guys; here's the final chapter of the whole series. At the end of it I've said a little bit about the AU becoming open now.**

**Epilogue**

A week later, a funeral service was held for Sarah and Adam, as well as the unborn baby, Adelle Larabee; named posthumously by Chris. As far as the Potters could gather, a warlock had shimmered into the Larabee home and killed them, not long after Sarah and Adam had returned there with the good news that Sarah was pregnant again. Chris wouldn't rest until they found out who had murdered his family; when he found out who'd done it, he would avenge the deaths.

Chris attended the funeral, but when it was over, he disappeared, unable to face anyone while he was grieving. Ever since Josiah had told him that his wife and son's bodies had been identified, Chris had gone on strike from fighting demons and protecting innocents. Chris wanted to find out who Sarah and Adam's murderer was; then he'd get revenge. He couldn't even think about saving other people from similar fates then; his brothers and parents would deal with that while he had time off to mourn the loss of his family.

**CH7- CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7**

A month after Sarah and Adam had been killed, Gloria and Terrence were seriously injured in a warlock attack, and after a few days in the hospital, the two died of complications. The house was put up for sale soon after, and JD, Vin and Ezra moved in with Josiah; while Chris remained living in the apartment he'd shared with his wife and son.

After only a few months on the market, the house was bought by a young family, and the sale's proceeds were divided amongst the Potters' adopted sons. Only a week after moving in, the couple put the house back on the market, never saying anything to anyone about why they were leaving so soon.

The brothers, except Josiah, had already spent their share of the house's proceeds, so they couldn't afford to pool the money together and buy the house jointly. So Josiah bought the house himself, using money he had saved up, plus the proceeds from the sale of his own home. It seemed to him that they were meant to keep the house in the family and that was why no-one would buy it, and the young couple had moved out so soon. Then Josiah asked all the brothers to move back into the house with him - all but Chris gladly agreed. After some heavy persuading, Chris finally gave in and agreed to move back as well.

Future events wouldn't have happened if the brothers hadn't returned to living under the same roof.

**End of Part 3 – that ends the Family Past series, meaning the AU is now open.**

If you are interested in writing a story in the AU (you can write either during the Potter family's past, or after The Seventh Brother), please let me know. I will be glad to offer assistance to anyone wishing to take part. Also I would appreciate it if you let me know if you want to include any original or so far unmentioned canon characters, as I will be working on further stories of my own and am planning to include some additional characters - otherwise the same canon characters may come into the AU several different ways and it could become confusing.

Please note: If you do decide to write in this AU, feel free to include any elements established for the AU by "The Seventh Brother" and the stories in "The Family Past series", besides these add whatever you like to your own stories in the AU. It doesn't matter if the time-line after The Seventh Brother is split several ways, but please include a note near the start of your story to say your story's timeline diverges from Lu's one after "The Seventh Brother". I am already working on stories to follow "The Seventh Brother", so any that are written before those are posted, will likely split the AU's timeline.  
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me at my email address.


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